APL, ANL and Hanjin Shipping are joining forces to offer a new weekly service covering Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The service — “New Zealand-Asia Express” or “NAX” for APL, “Kiwi International Express” or “KIX” for ANL and “Asia-Australia-New Zealand” or “AAZ” for Hanjin Shipping — is scheduled to launch on Sept. 1, 2013. It will operate through a vessel sharing agreement. The three partners will each contribute two container ships and allocate a combined capacity of up to 2,200 20-foot-equivalent units for every weekly sailing.
The port rotation will be as follows: Singapore; Port Klang, Malaysia; Brisbane and Sydney, Australia; Auckland and Tauranga, New Zealand; Brisbane again; and back to Singapore. The service will commence its first southbound sailing from Singapore on Sept. 1 and the first northbound sailing from Auckland on Sept. 24.
The Journal of Commerce