A JOINT venture between Swiss and New Zealand companies has won a tender to provide shipping services to the Chatham Islands.
Lugarno-based Nova Marine Carriers, along with Auckland-headquartered building materials and marine services supplier MacCallum Brothers Ltd, will provide a 78-metre newbuilding, intended to be in operation by 2027.
It will replace the 40-yo Southern Tiare, owned and operated by Chatham Islands Shipping Ltd, which has proven increasingly unreliable despite some NZ$10 million allocated by the NZ Government to keeping it operational ahead of replacement.
CISL said it was “naturally disappointed” to be an unsuccessful for the new contract, especially as throughout the selection process, “we openly shared our expertise and sensitive commercial information to support a best-for-Chathams outcome”.
NMC owns and operates more than 100 vessels worldwide, specialising in bulk shipping and logistics, while MBL has a fleet of NZ coastal tugs, barges, landing craft and dredgers also working in the South Pacific.
Thejoint venture says the Chatham Island vessel will be “a truly multipurpose ship” capable of transporting containers, fuel, vehicles, and livestock.
It is estimated that the new ship will be able to transport up to 70,000 stock units per year, based on the minimum number of contracted voyages.
“The proposal from the MBL/Nova Marine JV was chosen because the vessel and operational model presented the best solution to ensure a reliable, cost-effective, and long-term maritime service for the Chatham Islands over the next 20 years. It also offered the Government the best value for money,” the partners said.
“For some time now,” said Vincenzo Romeo, NMC CEO, “we have been planning to enter the New Zealand shipping space. We are expecting the arrival of one of our cement carriers to begin operating in New Zealand waters by the end of this year. [DCN understands this is the 8,108 DWT NACC Vega, which departed Mexico 23 September and will replace Holcim NZ’s 1998-built Buffalo in coastal cement distribution.]
“Certainly, the joint venture with McCallum Bros marks, even psychologically, a turning point for our group: a turning point born from the conviction that to survive and grow in a market characterized by uncertainties — such as today’s global shipping industry — it is necessary to deploy maximum flexibility and accept challenges that until just a few years ago would have been unthinkable, reaffirming ourselves as a truly global and reliable brand.”