Contship Containerlines Builds Presence in Trans-Tasman Trade

August wil see Contship Containerlines make major enhancements to its
services in the Trans-Tasman trade. To date, the shipping line has use
d its existing 4 mainline services and a slot charter arragement on si
ster company ANZDL's ro-ro service to serve the trans-Tasman.
These options remain in place, but Contship now offers shippers a two
loop "butterfly" service where three container ships will opoerate i
n a two-loop rotation, providing a 5-6 day service frequency between t
he main ports of Sydney and Melbourne in Australia; Lyttelton, Welling
ton and Nelson in New Zealand.
Loop one will call at Sydney, Melbourne, Napier, Lyttelton,Wellington,
Nelson and Sydney. Loop two will call at Sydney, Burnie, Melbourne, B
luff, Lyttelton, Wellington, Nelson and Sydney.
The service will be operated by three ships although tonnage upgrades
are likely.
Taken together, the threefold operation provides an unprecedented serv
ice package and network of port calls for shippers in both the North a
nd South Islands of New Zealand, as well as South East Australia.
"With this new partnership agreement, we have another great opportuni
ty to strengthen our market position and increase our efficiency," co
mmented George Patterson, Contship Containerlines' Regional Director
for Oceania.
"The latest development is further evidence of our committment to shi
ppers in Australasia. Since entering the Australasia/Europe trade in 1
982 as an independent carrier operating ships of less than 1000teu, Co
ntship Containerlines has regularly upgraded both the tonnage employed
and the overall service product."