ANL’s new APR2 service made first Australian landfall this week, with the arrival of the 1,700 TEU San Giorgio at Patrick’s Brisbane AutoStrad terminal.
APR2 was announced at the end of July and kicked off with the first sailing from Qingdao in mid-September. The fortnightly service rotates Qingdao, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Lae, Motukea (Port Moresby), Brisbane, Gladstone, Townsville, Qingdao.
Transhipment via the WestPac service will provide links to the Solomons (Honiara) and Vanuatu (Vila and Santo). Noumea will be served by transhipment over Brisbane to the ANZ Shuttle. ANL says the new service will also provide greater PNG coverage, not least an express service to Brisbane for exporters, at 8 days ex Lae and 3 days ex Motukea, a connection highlighted by Patrick in a LinkedIn post.
Gladstone and Townsville exporters get access to faster transits to North & East Asia, given direct links rather than South East Asia relay on the existing APR service.
The second ship on the service is the 1,740 TEU Ela, which has been taken on a new charter by ANL following a change of ownership and renamed ANL Mount Willem, after the tallest mountain in PNG. The third is APR’s 1,641 TEU Flora Delmas, which was swapped with APR2’s 1,798 TEU Sevilla to avoid delays.
DCN understands the service has been immediately well-supported by shippers.
“Our collaboration with the CMA CGM Group and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry ensures the introduction of this new service, reinforcing Patrick Terminals’ role in supporting Australia's international trade gateways,” Patrick said in its social media post.
“Patrick Terminals is proud to support the CMA CGM Group in this strategic service expansion and remains committed to enabling efficient, sustainable and competitive supply chains for our customers.”