Maersk, MISC Berhad sharing ships to New Zealand, Australia

Maersk, MISC Berhad sharing ships to New Zealand, Australia Maersk Line has entered a vessel sharing agreement with MISC Berhad in the South East Asia/New Zealand trade.
   Maersk said the change was “a reflection of the presently unsustainable trading conditions in the South East Asia/New Zealand market.”
   The agreement will take effect June 9 and the service will deploy four 4,100-TEU vessels. Maersk Line will operate three of the vessels and MISC Berhad will operate the fourth.
   Maersk said the fixed weekly service will be unchanged from what it offers today. Port rotation will be Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia; Singapore; Brisbane, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Port Chalmers, New Zealand; and Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia.
   “Maersk Line will continue to offer a stable and reliable service to our customers — with the foundation being a reasonable return on investments. This can only be achieved by optimizing the utilization of our assets and through recognition in the market of the sharply increased operational cost, which presently does not allow for an acceptable return,” the carrier said.