MAERSK Line and ANL have announced more revisions to their trans-Tasman products, affecting the Polaris and ANZ Shuttle services respectively.
Blaming “ongoing disruptions across New Zealand due to consistent weather impact” Maersk is blanking every fourth sailing in the Polaris service for four cycles, i.e. for four months.
The change takes effect from end April (eastbound from Melbourne) and 8 May (westbound from Auckland), and during this time the blanked weekly coverage of Timaru will be provided by vessels on the carrier’s OC1 (ANZ-East Coast North America) service, on 8 May, 5 June, 3 July and 31 July.
Polaris’s current, normal rotation is Melbourne, Auckland, Nelson, Timaru, Port Chalmers, Melbourne with three vessels, the 2320 TEU Nicolai Maersk, the 1774 TEU Nordmaas and the 1762 TEU AS Simone.
Meanwhile, ANL’s ANZ Shuttle service resumes fortnightly Auckland calls for one loop from 16 May; rotations then become Brisbane, Noumea, Auckland, Tauranga, Brisbane for the 1096 TEU ANL Tasman Trader; and Brisbane, Noumea, Tauranga, Brisbane for the 1118 TEU Contship Win.
ANL says the latest service adjustment will offer more routing solutions and better port coverage along New Zealand coast. The previous, November 2023 ANZ Shuttle revision saw the removal of Napier and Auckland calls while Tauranga frequency was increased to weekly.
Separately, the line has introduced two larger ships to the Sofrana-ANL Westpac service from NZ to New Caledonia, Queensland, PNG, the Solomons and Vanuatu, ostensibly to cover drydockings. The newly-chartered 1338 TEU Baldur has joined the 1368 TEU Petkum, replacing the 1037 TEU sisters Sofrana Tourville and Sofrana Surville respectively.
