MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Co will revive the Koala brand for a new weekly service between China and Western Australia, via Indonesia.
Although there had been no official announcement at time of writing, DCN has seen a customer notice announcing the new route, which will cover Shanghai and Shekou in China before calling Jakarta and then Fremantle, although it appears this may be subject to variation.
The initiative follows MSC’s decision to cancel its weekly Capricorn and Kiwi Express services from South East Asian hubs to Australia and NZ, both of which are completing final sailings this month. Capricorn was known to carry substantial quantities of China imports to Fremantle and Port Adelaide and its loss is being felt in both ports.
“We are pleased to announce that our Koala service is back in operation and now dedicated to service Fremantle from the following CNMPs, including Jakarta in the loop,” the customer notice reads.
“This is great news for FRE bound cargo as the total transit time will be significantly reduced, and SEA cargo can be delivered at a faster pace.”
The notice said bookings are now being taken, with the first vessel, the Fujian Mawei ‘SDARI 1800 open top’ newbuilding 1800 TEU MSC Kyungmin, scheduled to departShanghai 29 October. This is one of ten sisters MSC has on order at the yard.
The full schedule and routing are to be updated, the advisory notes.
This month MSC has sent the Panda service vessel MSC Sydney VI (5618 TEU) southbound via Fremantle and port Adelaide, skipping Melbourne before continuing normal rotation through Port Botany and Brisbane before heading back to China.
