The Port of Newcastle has welcomed its first regular container caller, with Neptune Pacific Direct Line (NPDL) vessel, the Capitaine Dampier, arriving on what will be an initial monthly call of NPDL vessels to the Port.
The first Trans-Tasman call saw the export of agricultural products to the AusPac region, along with the import of empty containers to ensure readiness for subsequent vessel calls and containerised export growth.
“With around a third of NSW container exports originating from the Hunter, New England and North West, this vessel call highlights the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of utilising Port of Newcastle, with export products originating in the Liverpool Plains, manufactured and packed at a Hunter facility, before being sent to Port of Newcastle for export,” the Port of Newcastle said, adding that the “The NPDL call means significant savings in landside costs for customers in our catchment, with substantial room for growth”.
NPDL offers liner shipping and supply chain services to and from 16 countries and 22 ports in the South Pacific, including Fiji (Suva and Lautoka), Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga (Nuku’alofa and Vava’u), Tahiti, the Cook Islands (Rarotonga & Aitutaki), Norfolk, Kiribati (Tarawa and Kiribati), Tuvalu, Wallis & Futuna, Solomon Islands and Majuro. The company provides weekly services between Asia and the Pacific Island with cargo relaying through New Zealand. NPDL was formed in 2020, when Neptune Pacific Line acquired Pacific Direct Line.
NPDL’s operations include shipping, shipping agencies, cruise agencies, stevedoring (port operations), transport and customs clearance, container repair, container sales, container depot operations, fumigation, airfreight, fuel brokerage, warehousing, and waste removal.
The Port of Newcastle is a deep water facility that handles around 4,700 ship movements a year and 166 million tonnes of cargo annually. Imports of approximately 4.8 million tonnes include alumina, cement, fertiliser, fuel, machinery, grains, steel, pitch & tar, and petroleum coke. Known primarily as a coal export port with 136m plus tonnes of coal exported in 2022, Newcastle also handles export volumes of aluminum, concentrates, machinery, meals and grains, pitch & tar, steel, and wheat.
