12 May 2023
It’s more good news for lower South Island exporters, with ZIM Integrated Shipping Services upgrading its service into Port Chalmers from fortnightly to weekly calls from next week.
ZIM’s N2A “New Zealand to Australia Service” added a fortnightly Port Chalmers call in January of this year, however in response to demand from southern exporters, the company will be making it a weekly call. The N2A will call New Zealand weekly with alternating fortnightly calls into Tauranga and Napier. From May, the service will be: Auckland – Tauranga/Napier – Lyttelton – Port Chalmers – Melbourne – Sydney.
Port Otago Commercial Manager Craig Usher says the change is welcome news. “We knew a weekly service was a possibility, in time. But we’re delighted that it has happened so quickly – within four short months of the service launching.
“We are still in our peak export season, so the timing is ideal for our region’s exporters. They’ve appreciated and supported the new service since it began. Doubling the number of calls is just what we need. It’s great news. And it’s not just exporters. Our importers have also embraced the service.”
ZIM New Zealand’s Managing Director David Mitchell says Otago and Southland exporters’ strong support of the ZIM service is directly responsible for the move to weekly calls into Port Chalmers. “Optimising shipping routes is in everyone’s best interest – importers, exporters, shipping lines, ports and end consumers. We pride ourselves on being an agile company and our decision to call Port Chalmers weekly is a great example of how quickly we can meet market demand.”
Mr Mitchell says the weekly call is a permanent fixture, not just for the peak export season.
ZIM is a publicly owned (listed on the New York Stock Exchange) Israeli company.