SWIRE Shipping has announced it will be entering a new vessel sharing partnership from New Zealand to Tonga, Samoa (Apia), Cook Islands and Fiji.
This service is to depart from Auckland every 10 days.
Swire Shipping general manager Jeremy Sutton said the company had built up a strong reputation connecting the Pacific Islands to the world.
“Today’s launch will enable us to offer expanded global coverage into the Pacific Islands, as well as specifically providing New Zealand customers with a new direct service alternative,” Mr Sutton said.
“Our aim is to offer best in class and reliable services from all key trading countries and regions importing and exporting to the Pacific Islands,” he said.
“We will be working closely with customers to not only offer a great shipping service, but also to explore opportunities for landside delivery in the Pacific Islands as well as offering innovative digital solutions.”
Swire Shipping is to charter and deploy one vessel on the service; Matson (a Hawaiian shipping company) is to operate two vessels (currently MV Imua II and MV Olomana). The vessels are 8000DWT.
The new service is to begin in January 2020.
In March 2018, Swire parent company, The China Navigation Company signed a memorandum of understanding with the secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme to form the Moana Taka Partnership (MTP).
Under this partnership, CNCo vessels carry containers of recyclable waste from eligible Pacific island ports, pro bono, to be sustainably treated and recycled in suitable ports in the Asia Pacific.
In 2018, the MTP shipped 16 containers of recyclable waste from Fiji and Marshall Islands.
