FOLLOWING the settlement of the long-running DP World/MUA dispute Maersk Line is returning two services to previous formats.
On 26 March the Port Botany call of the ANZ-East Coast North America OC1 service vessel Maersk Bali will denote the resumption of Sydney calls after the carrier earlier this year opted for Brisbane instead.
However, Maersk will continue with its Panama Canal bypass, by which the OC1 service is split into Pacific and Atlantic loops with containers rail-bridged across the isthmus. The Pacific loop thus becomes Balboa, Tauranga, Port Botany, Melbourne, Port Chalmers, Tauranga, Balboa with eight vessels of 3100-3800 TEU, while the Atlantic loop remains calling Manzanillo, Philadelphia, Charleston, Manzanillo with three 3400-3800 TEU ships.
In conjunction with OC1’s Sydney restoration the trans-Tasman Polaris service will revert to Melbourne-only calls and drop Tauranga from its NZ rotation. At the same time the fourth ship allocated to the Polaris service, the 2824 TEU Archer, will be withdrawn. Polaris rotation thus reverts to Melbourne, Auckland, Nelson, Timaru, Port Chalmers, Melbourne, effective 2 April.
Maersk says Tauranga/Auckland Metroport for Sydney cargo will then be carried on OC1 vessels, while Auckland-Sydney will move on the weekly PANZ service (WCNA-ANZ). Eastbound Sydney cargo will directly into Auckland Metroport, Tauranga, Napier, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers on the Southern Star service.
Separately, the SE Asia trade consortium of ANL, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and ONE have begun re-instating the pro forma Australian port rotation of the AAX-E/SEA/EAC/AU2 service.
The lines said that in consultation with DP World and following the ends of industrial action rotation will revert to Brisbane-Port Botany-Brisbane, effective from V409S/412N of CMA CGM Corneille. Vessels have been alternating and/or omitting calls for several months in order to maintain weekly frequency.
