A.P. Moller Maersk (Maersk) has announced it is launching Maersk Coast Connect – a new dedicated New Zealand coastal service.
According to the carrier, the service will enable a more resilient New Zealand supply chain and improve vessel schedule reliability.
The first of its kind service will help enhance domestic connections and offer sustainable and flexible supply chain solutions for importers, exporters, and domestic distributors.
A fleet of two 2,500 TEU container vessels are to be deployed on the service on a weekly basis.
Both the Maersk Nadi and Maersk Nansha box ships will call at five main ports across New Zealand, including Timaru, Lyttleton, Nelson, Auckland, and Tauranga.
The combined North to South and South to North capacity is expected to reach 250,000 TEU each year.
Maersk Coastal Connect will set sail from 12 July 2022.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world in many ways, and one of them in the logistics industry is customers’ increasing needs for more visible and resilient local and global supply chains. By operating two dedicated vessels, we can position empty containers to the right places more efficiently to meet export requirements,” said Henrik Jensen, Managing Director of Maersk Oceania.
“At the same time, we are enabling more than four days of additional schedule buffer to reduce impact from the supply chain disruptions, including port congestion, tidal windows, swell, lower port productivity and longer port stay. This will ensure smooth connections to our international mainliner network and benefit more than 2,000 cargo owners in the country.”
My Therese Blank, Head of Market of Maersk Oceania, added: “With Sea freight being the most environmental-friendly mode of transportation, it has a significant potential to reduce CO2 emissions.
“Based on GLEC methodology to calculate the representative cargo volumes, Maersk Coastal Connect is estimated to enable forty-three thousand tonnes of CO2 savings per year compared to landside trucking service, contributing to Maersk’s 2030 targets for significant absolute emissions reductions.”
Last month, Maersk announced its plans to open a new 45,000 square-metre cold chain facility in the Waikato District, New Zealand.
Upon completion, the site will provide storage for 21,000 pallets of frozen and refrigerated products with more than 16,000 square-metres of fully convertible temperature-controlled space.
