New shipping link for port

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Dec 2007

The new service will complement the existing international carriers of Maersk, Hamburg Sud and Tasman Orient that already service the port and which largely handled a record 77,000 container throughput in the last financial year.Mr Abraham said the service was totally dedicated to Timaru and PrimePort Timaru has attracted a new weekly trans-Tasman shipping service that will see container volumes increase by up to 12 per cent and push the port towards becoming a major distribution centre for goods from throughout the South Island. The Hong Kong-based Gold Star Line will begin service in February as soon as two new refrigerated container ships are released from their builders. The decision to establish in Timaru follows two and a half years of studies by Gold Star into trans-Tasman shipping. "We were really quite taken by the opportunity that exists today (in South Canterbury), but also by the growth that we have seen. We want to establish now and sustain ourselves over the next couple of years as we believe we will benefit from the region's growth," line manager trans-Tasman, Phil Abraham said from Sydney yesterday.The new service will complement the existing international carriers of Maersk, Hamburg Sud and Tasman Orient that already service the port and which largely handled a record 77,000 container throughput in the last financial year.Mr Abraham said the service was totally dedicated to Timaru and that Lyttelton and Port Chalmers were not seen as an option."We see the South Canterbury plains as the food basket and we have seen an opportunity with cargo moving north and south out of the region for shipment.Mr Abraham said that with the ever-increasing cost of rail, Gold Star saw opportunities in Timaru as exporters would be looking for efficiencies in getting their cargo to ports.He said companies such as Fonterra, Talleys vegetable processing and McCain Foods had been the catalyst.PrimePort chairman of directors Sid McAuley said yesterday the new weekly service would help build Timaru as a South Island distribution centre and would provide better use of port equipment and more permanent work opportunities.He said that for the likes of CoolPak Coolstores, 90 per cent of the containers they packed were sent out of the region for shipment as there was no trans-Tasman service from Timaru.Mr McAuley said companies such as Ullrich Aluminium and McCain Foods had already decided Timaru was to be their South Island distribution point.He added that other companies in the region such as Cloughs Machinery, Sanford South Island, the Talleys food plant in Ashburton and Fonterra would all benefit from the new link.There were also opportunities for trans-shipment of South Island cargo from Auckland as the new service will come via Auckland.Mr McAuley said port company managers had worked hard in the last few years promoting Timaru as an efficient South Island distribution port.''This is just another success for that hard work and productivity of the watersiders in Timaru who were equal to any in New Zealand and Australia.''The new service continues the expansion of PrimePort which has a $14 million capital development programme under way. Part of that investment involves the building of a new $6 million tug in China which is scheduled for delivery in March next year.