Trans-shipments of containers routed through Auckland rose 8% in the third quarter from a year earlier, evidence of the trend for shipping lines to call at fewer ports. Ports of Auckland managing director Jens Madsen says shipping companies are adopting similar strategies to code sharing between airlines, sharing vessels as they chop back overall capacity. Car imports, break bulk and bulk volumes tumbled by as much as a third in the latest quarter.

Madsen says “unrelenting cost pressures have seen the large international shipping lines run much leaner operations over the last 12 months.” Data collated by AXS-Alphaliner shows the world’s 17 largest container lines with published results racked up combined first-half losses of $US6bn as they contended with higher fuel costs and surplus capacity. Oslo-based shipbroker R.S. Platou ASA this month estimated bulk shipping lines will have to cancel half of the new ships they have on order to lift freight rates and reduce a glut of capacity. Madsen predicts continued volatility in international shipping.

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Ports of Auckland is facing similar questions to Port of Tauranga on how to gear up as a hub port, especially since the roads serving the port go through Auckland’s CBD and the rail link will increasingly have to juggle freight with the city’s developing commuter rail services. For Madsen, becoming first port of call is crucial to his strategy. He says “there are clear time, cost and environmental benefits to discharging imports direct at the Auckland seaport, instead of routing import cargo from other ports via rail to the Auckland market.”

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