NAPLES-based global ro-ro, PCTC and ferry operator Grimaldi is to inaugurate a monthly China-Australia service within a fortnight.
The company has allocated three ships to the new service, which will rotate Shanghai, Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Melbourne, Port Kembla, Brisbane, with inducement calls at Guangzhou, in what is being called Phase 1 by the company.
The 6,700 CEU Grande Halifax will take the first sailing, departing Shanghai 4 February, and will be followed by the 7,600 CEU sisters Grande Texas and Grande Houston.
All three were previously employed on Grimaldi’s Europe-Oceania service which was suspended at the end of last year. Industry sources say this is unlikely to resume until it’s possible to safely transit the Suez Canal and Red Sea.
Darren Dumbleton, MD of the Leeward Group (parent of local Grimaldi agents Nautical Shipping) today confirmed the new service, telling DCN it has been in the planning for a long time and will be enhanced further in Phase 2 later this year.
“Grimaldi Line is one of the world’s largest ro/ro and conro operators, with a modern fleet of company owned vessels and an orderbook delivering new vessels every 3–4 weeks,” Mr Dumbleton said.
“Its expansion into new markets has been planned for many years taking into consideration supply and demand principles. Automotive, high & heavy manufacturing has shifted into the Asia region, and the growth of Asia-made vehicles, especially Chinese, into global markets is on an upward trajectory.”
According to official VFACTS figures, in December 2025 alone shipments of vehicles from China to Australia grew from 14,284 units in December 2024 to 20,932 last year, a 46.5% increase. Total growth in 2025 was 25.9%, from 176,159 to 221,699 vehicles (excluding high & heavy and trucks, busses and similar).
Chinese cars now account for 20% of the local market and by the end of 2026 there will be nearly 30 brands or sub-brands available here.
Mr Dumbleton said the new service would launch carrying contracted cargoes for Chinese OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and would be “agile” to meet those customers’ requirements; other major OEM manufacturing ports, for example in Japan, Korea etc will be added subject to contracts, he said, with port rotational scope at its infancy.
He expects the frequency to increase to fortnightly, and transhipment options will be available through the Grimaldi network.
Grimaldi’s pivot to the Asia-Australia route comes as capacity and competition in the trade continues to ramp up.
As well as the well-established Japanese and South Korean players, in mid-2025 COSCO Shipping Car Carriers launched a monthly service which has already doubled in frequency and is co-ordinating with the Toyota-owned Toyofuji Shipping. Furthe developments are anticipated.
And since taking 100% of New Zealand’s Armacup (and retiring the brand) Wallenius Wilhelmsen has upgraded the Asia-Oceania service and currently has seven vessels listed, with sailings at weekly or greater frequency.