China congestion hitting SoPac transhipments

NEPTUNE Pacific has alerted customers to likely delivery delays for Chinese cargo as mainline vessels obliged to skip orts due to severe weather and congestion will miss local connections.

“We wish to advise of delays, capacity issues, and cargo disruptions expected over the coming weeks for our ASIAPAC services from China to the South Pacific via Auckland,” the line said.

This follows recent severe weather events, including typhoons Maysak and Bavi, as well as further severe weather forecasted for China.

As a result, some Ningbo and Shanghai port calls are being omitted by partner services over July and August:

• OOCL Busan 0706S is omitting Ningbo.
• SC Montruex 0477S is omitting Shanghai.
• Kota Lestari 0285S is omitting Ningbo.
• Xin Zhang Zhou 0078S is omitting Shanghai.

Due to the subsequent backlog of cargo and capacity constraints, any new ASIAPAC bookings will be assigned to the earliest vessel voyage, subject to space availability, Neptune Pacific said.

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and update our schedules as we receive the latest information.”

Separately, the carrier as advised that as it prepares to resume its normal NZPAC service rotation with Capitaine Tupaia, Capitaine Tasman and Neptune Matua in September, the July/August schedule will have to be adjusted.

NPDL Tahiti was temporarily deployed to NZPAC (replacing Capitaine Tupaia) and now needs to undergo maintenance before returning to the AUSPAC service.

Due to the maintenance required, Neptune Pacific has implemented the following operational changes:

• NPDL Tahiti v2627 will now berth in Auckland on 29 July 2026 to complete cargo operations and then depart on 6 August 2026 – delaying departure by one week.

• Perishable goods, medical supplies, and Fiji transshipment cargo booked on the NPDL Tahiti v2627 will be transferred to our Capitaine Tasman v2628.

NPDL Tahiti’s AUSPAC phase in rotation is yet to confirmed.