MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Company will begin making direct Port Adelaide calls with its recently-launched Koala service, restoring South Australia’s import links with Asia.
Schedules show the 1800 TEU MSC Sijing is due to visit the SA port in early January on its second voyage in the Koala, which was inaugurated around six weeks ago on a Shanghai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Fremantle rotation. The next Port Adelaide call is listed for the 2741 TEU MSC Cape III on 19 January, after a blanked sailing.
The addition will be warmly welcomed by SA shippers who have been without a direct southbound South East Asian link since MSC ended its weekly Capricorn service in late October. Port Adelaide is serviced by SEA loops provided by Triple A, ASAL, AAX/GAC and the northbound leg of AES/NEMO but all are export-focused.
More crucially, Port Adelaide will once again have a direct import service from China, which has not existed since Maersk’s Boomerang service ceased at the end of 2019.
The Koala schedule is showing a Shanghai-Port Adelaide transit of around 19 days, with 17 days from Hong Kong and 10 days from Jakarta. Northbound Port Adelaide to Jakarta is seven days.
Meanwhile, AIS tracking shows the first voyage of MSC Sijing, which arrived Fremantle 26 November, has returned to Shanghai from Jakarta via Haiphong and Yantian, demonstrating MSC’s usual flexibility in covering cargo/equipment movement requirements.
The carrier’s return to Port Adeldaide with direct-flow imports will likely also improve the equipment supply for SA exporters.
