New Zealand ports are this week welcoming the arrival of the OOCL New Zealand, the largest container ship to regularly call in New Zealand.
The OOCL New Zealand celebrated its maiden call in New Zealand at Auckland on Sunday, and will arrive at Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) today. From there it travels to Wellington, Napier and Tauranga. It can carry 4578 TEU, or standard-sized containers, and will travel to New Zealand regularly at least until the end of June during the peak exporting season.
The largest container vessels on regular service to New Zealand before now have carried 4100 containers and are operated by Maersk. The Maersk Detriot, which is capable of carrying 5042 TEU, was the largest container ship to call in New Zealand when it called at Ports of Auckland in December. The Emma Maersk is reported to be the largest container ship in the world with a capacity of more than 11,000 TEU.
The OOCL New Zealand is operating on the New Zealand Express (NZX) service route. Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Mitsui Osk Line, Pacific International Line (PIL), Malaysia International Shipping Corporation and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) provide the NZX service to Malaysia and Singapore.
LPC chief executive Peter Davie said the arrival of the vessel was a highlight for Lyttelton.
"The OOCL New Zealand is the largest container vessel currently deployed on a regular New Zealand service so it is a real coup for us to have it call on Lyttelton," he said.
"Currently the biggest vessels calling on Lyttelton have a capacity of 3500 TEU, so it is a true endorsement of our operations to be able to manage its arrival."
Eddy Declercq, managing director of OOCL (Australia) Ltd, said there had been a significant increase in demand for both refrigerated and dry cargo from New Zealand customers, particularly in peak season.
"We are optimistic for the long-term potential of the New Zealand market, despite challenging economic conditions in the past year. This increase in demand has reassured our commitment to our customers in this region and will continue to do our best to meet their needs," he said.
OOCL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong stock exchange listed Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. The company raised its rates effective from March 1 and announced a peak season surcharge.
New Zealand ports are competing to attract larger container vessels. Industry leaders have expressed concern that ports may invest too much in facilities and dredging to attract larger vessels that may only call at one or two ports.
