On the 4th of April, we announced that we have managed to secure a weekly berthing window in Lyttleton for our Southern Star service. To enable this weekly connection, as well as secure reliable deep-sea connections for our cargo from Nelson and Timaru, we would now like to advise you of changes we are making to our Polaris service as well as a subsequent change to the Southern Star.
In order for us to curtail cargo operations in Lyttleton to a sustainable level for the port to serve, we have identified the need to shift our transhipment operations to alternative ports. We are thus pleased to confirm that in collaboration with stakeholders in Otago and Melbourne, we have managed to secure additional capacity for these volumes resulting in new rotations for the Polaris and Southern Star as follows:
Polaris rotation: Melbourne – Auckland (Fortnightly) – Nelson – Timaru – Port Chalmers
Southern Star rotation: Tanjung Pelepas – Singapore – Sydney – Tauranga – Napier – Lyttleton – Port Chalmers – Melbourne
All Nelson reefer cargo will be pre-carried by the Polaris into Port Chalmers, then tranship onto the Southern Star. Cargo from Nelson and Timaru to the America’s, will also tranship in Port Chalmers onto our OC1 service. All other cargo from Nelson and Timaru, will tranship in Melbourne. Cargo transhipping in Melbourne will either be routed onto the Southern Star, which will now be calling Melbourne northbound, or onto our Dragon service for the fastest possible transit into the Far East. The new rotations for the Polaris and Southern Star will now be as per the below.
We trust that you will see these as positive changes, allowing us to both ensure a sustainable operation in Lyttleton as well as protect the in-market delivery of your cargo from Nelson and Timaru. Maersk remains deeply committed to the New Zealand market and we will continue to review our networks proactively, to best manage the volatility currently being experienced in the New Zealand supply chain.
If you have any questions, please reach out to your Customer Experience agent or contact us via our instant chat channel: Live Chat