MSC adds Taranaki stop

Beleaguered Port Taranaki finally received some good news with one of the world's largest shipping companies is adding the New Plymouth port to its New Zealand service, the Taranaki Daily News reported.

While the arrival of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) won't make up for the big trade hit the port suffered last year when diary giant Fonterra dropped it from its South-East Asian service, it is still likely to involve substantial numbers of containers.

Significantly, MSC is adding Port Taranaki into its schedule as the final port of call prior to heading to Sydney, which opens up new trade opportunities for exporters from the lower North Island.

Port Taranaki chief executive Roy Weaver hailed MSC's decision as excellent news, because it means the port not now has three trans-Tasman services whereas 12 months ago there was none.

"In the wake of our losing the South-East Asian trade, that's where we see our container shipping future - to Australia and North Asia.

"There's a lot of hard work now needing to be done to ensure the MSC service is a success," he said, adding that Taranaki, Wanganui and Manawatu were seen as the prime regions as source of the export product.

(source: Cargo News Asia)