FROM December, Swire Shipping will enhance its south-east Asia service to connect south-east Asia, Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, Europe, Africa and USA with Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands on an 11-day frequency using two loops.

The service enhancement will increase the number of port calls into Port Moresby and improve the interval times between vessels arriving in Lae. Port Moresby will be served with a market leading frequency of 11 days, a significant upgrade from a 22-day frequency.

Customers shipping from Singapore and Malaysia to Motukea Port in Port Moresby on the SEA service can look forward to a transit time of only nine days.

The new rotations for the SEA service’s two loops will be as follows, commencing with Changsha 2034S, arriving in Port Klang on 6 December 2020:

  • Loop 1 (Challenger loop)
    Port Klang – Singapore – Motukea – Lae – Honiara – Lihir – Kimbe – Port Klang
    *Oro Bay and Alotau will be serviced as ad-hoc calls.
  • Loop 2 (New Guinea Shuttle loop)
    Port Klang – Singapore – Jakarta – Motukea – Lae – Lihir – Rabaul – Madang – Port Klang

Following the changes to the two loops on the SEA service, customers can expect better spacing between arrivals into Lae. The initial three and 19-day interval time between voyages into Lae will now be improved to a 13 and 15-day interval.

“We are excited to announce the upgrade of our south-east Asia service which will boost our services to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. These enhancements will benefit our customers and their supply chains on the Papua New Guinea-Southeast Asia trade,” said Jeremy Sutton, general manager of Swire Shipping.

“Swire Shipping has a long history operating in the Asia-Pacific region and we are committed to improving overall customer experience and saving our customers’ time.

“We will continue to develop and upgrade our product offerings so that we can better serve our customers and communities where we operate.”

Swire Shipping plans to deploy four of its newbuild 2,400TEU vessels on this service. These owned vessels will further enhance the reliability of the service for customers.

Fitted with 45mt cranes and capable of dual lifts, the vessels are well equipped to carry all cargo types, including breakbulk, out of gauge and reefers, offering customers versatility for all their cargo requirements.