‘Back-door’ shipping bid

Press, 6 March 1984, Page 1

‘Back-door’ shipping bid

PA Wellington The New Zealand Shipping Corporation will ditch its trade with the east coast of the United States and make a multi-million dollar bid to penetrate the American market through the “back door” of California. Main facets of the switch, announced yesterday by the corporation’s chairman, Mr Harry Julian, are:

• The formation of a new independent shipping line,

the “Australia-New Zealand container line,” owned by the corporation.

• Buying out the interests of the Bank and Savill Line, with whom the shipping corporation has run a joint service to the Caribbean and United States Gulf since 1982.

• Chartering the two Bank and Savill Ships Dunedin and Willowbank to work alongside the corporation’s own vessel the N.Z. Caribbean.

• Closing down the service to the American Gulf and switching the entire business to the Californian ports of Oakland (San Francisco), and Long Beach (Los Angeles).

• Arranging with the Sea-Land group of companies — the inventors of containerisation — to take New Zealand and Australian Eroduce to all points in the Inited States by a combination of ship, rail and trucking connections.

• Working outside the existing conference on the

route, so that competitive rates and faster transit times can be used to tempt potential customers. The new service will start in mid-April, providing sailings every two weeks between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The corporation boasts that it will be able to get a New Zealand cargo to any American destination about two to five days faster than any competitor. To make sure of its trade share, the new container line is prepared to challenge the conference shipowners on the route — Columbus, A.8.C., A.N.L. and A.C.T. - with competitive freight rates.

Behind the corporation’s move is a dissatisfaction with the way its service to the American Gulf has been going. It wanted to expand the range of ports it served, but because it was in partnership with Bank and Savill it was subject to United States Government restrictions. By

going alone, it frees itself to work where it likes.

By going to the west coast instead of the east, it can get 26 round trips a year rather than the 14 now operating. A key piece of the jigsaw fell into place on Saturday when the Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation allowed the new service to carry Australian meat to the United States.

Similar approval for New Zealand meat is now being sought by the Meat Board. Although the Shipping Corporation and Bank and Savill are pulling out of the Gulf, they will not be ending their service between Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean.

A spokesman for Bank and Savill said yesterday that the lines would be making arrangements to service the Caribbean in conjunction with the Columbus line of West Germany. A schedule of sailings is already being drawn up.