WITH NO resolution of the DPW/MUA dispute in sight a major consortium in the South East Asia-Australia trade has been forced to extend workaround measures.
For some months the six vessels on ANL/Maersk/Hapag-Lloyd/ONE’s East Coast service from Tanjung Pelepas and Singapore have been making alternating calls at Brisbane and Port Botany in order to overcome delays at DPW caused by MUA protected industrial action, as the two sides continue to seek to agree on a new EBA.
Yesterday (30 January) the carriers – which label the service AAX-E, EAC, SEA and AU2 respectively – announced the port skipping will continue until at least mid-April, presumably unless a dispute settlement is reached.
The normal rotation is Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Brisbane, Port Botany, Brisbane, Tanjung Pelepas but the contingency has seen combinations of omissions of the Brisbane southbound, Port Botany and/or Brisbane northbound calls.
Meanwhile, an ANL veteran of Asian trades, ANL Wangaratta, is returning from international deployment to replace the end-of-charter CMA CGM Perth in the AAX-E service. ANL Wangaratta is currently performing an extra-loader voyage to Australian East Coast ports from China.
