Maersk Line has launched first direct Thailand to Australia service starting from October 2015. The container shipping giant will make port-of-call in Laem Chabang, Thailand, connecting it with the Boomerang service to the main ports of Australia such as Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
The new direct link commences on a weekly basis, providing a fast and reliable service which eliminates the need for transhipment of the cargo elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
The first sailing of the direct service is on the vessel Maersk Virginia, which will depart from Laem Chabang port on 4 October 2015.
Bo Wegener, managing director of Maersk Line in Thailand sees the new direct service as necessary due to the strong trade growth between Thailand and Australia. The direct service aims to reduce transit time and offers more reliability to exporters and importers of the two countries.
Exports from Thailand to Australia largely comprise consumer goods, including electronics and auto parts. Imports are primarily grains, hay, metal and paper. Meanwhile, the Boomerang service will now comprise the ports of Brisbane – Sydney – Melbourne – Fremantle -Tanjung Pelepas – Singapore – Laem Chabang – Tanjung Pelepas – Singapore – Fremantle – Adelaide – Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane – Yokohama – Osaka – Busan – Qingdao – Shanghai – Ningbo – Brisbane.
Previously, Maersk Line has cut about 16% of its capacity on the West Central Asia-Europe trade lane, due to the weak imports into Europe. The shipping liner will discontinue its ME5 service from October 2015 onwards, while adding new port calls to its ME1, ME2, and ME3 services and, at the same time, launching a dedicated feeder shuttle between Chennai, Colombo and Salalah.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.