New Zealand – Pacifica Shipping, the leading coastal shipping operator in New Zealand, is pleased to introduce its second coastal vessel, “Takutai Chief”, which will commence operations on the coast in Auckland on 19 September. Built in 2010, MV Takutai Chief is a 1,300TEU container vessel and she will complement the existing New Zealand inter-island domestic freight services provided by MV Moana Chief.

This significant investment reflects Pacifica Shipping’s long-term commitment to ensuring New Zealand’s supply chain has reliable access to the most environmentally sustainable transport solution.

From 19 September, MV Takutai Chief will commence a fixed-day weekly service calling Auckland, Lyttelton, Tauranga, and Timaru or Marsden Point on alternating weeks (see the service maps in Appendix 2). With two vessels deployed in tandem on the coast, Pacifica Shipping will service Auckland, Lyttelton and Tauranga twice a week on a market-leading 3.5-day frequency.

As Jan-Hendrik Hintz, Line Manager for Pacifica Shipping, explains, “with two vessels operating in tandem, Pacifica Shipping is better equipped to meet the growing demand for coastal services by providing reliable inter-island domestic freight delivery and increased coverage to regional ports, such as the fortnightly fixed-day call to Timaru.”

“Aside from the additional capacity offered, the increased frequency of port calls will help to smooth the flow of cargo volume through the New Zealand domestic supply chain and take pressure off pack and devan sites. In the long run, we believe that this will contribute to a more resilient and sustainable coastal shipping network,” adds Ben Pike, Chief Operating Officer of Swire Shipping.

The name behind MV Takutai Chief
For Pacifica Shipping, the ship name is especially meaningful. In the Māori language, “Takutai” means “coast or seashore*”. With MV Moana Chief (named after “moana”, which means “sea, ocean, large lake”) deployed on the same service, the two ships together make up “takutai moana”, which refers to the “coast, foreshore and seabed”. This reflects Pacifica Shipping’s business focus in New Zealand and our commitment to developing coastal shipping for the community.

/End

About Pacifica Shipping
For over 37 years, Pacifica Shipping has been New Zealand’s leading dedicated coastal ship operator and sustainable domestic cargo carrier. It offers door-to-door and wharf-to-wharf movements for inter-regional FCL cargo to complement New Zealand’s road and rail networks. Pacifica Shipping currently operates one New Zealand-flagged coastal container ship, MV Moana Chief, and is a member of the New Zealand Shipping Federation Inc. Headquartered in Auckland, Pacifica is an operating division of Swire Shipping (NZ) Ltd.

For more information, please visit https://www.pacship.co.nz/.

About Swire Shipping
Headquartered in Singapore, Swire Shipping is dedicated to facilitating and growing trade in regions where it operates. It provides several high frequency liner shipping services in the Asia Pacific markets, and specialises in providing a wide range of specialist customer solutions for project, heavy lift, refrigerated, breakbulk and mini bulk cargoes. It connects 400 ports via an extensive network of services in the Asia-Pacific and globally, and maintains a worldwide agency network in addition to its own representative offices across the Asia-Pacific, Pacific Islands, North America and Europe, providing its customers with dedicated service and expert market knowledge.

Swire Projects, its projects division, provides specialist shipping services to the energy, resource and infrastructure sectors in the global project logistics market. In March 2021, Swire Shipping set up its integrated logistics arm providing door-to-door solutions for its customers, providing a single point of contact for customers for the full supply chain solution.

For more information, please visit www.swireshipping.com.

Contacts

Stella Choo
Corporate Communications Manager
Swire Shipping
Tel: +65 9126 2595
Email: stella.choo@swireshipping.com

Jan-Hendrik HINTZ
Line Manager, TRT/Poly/Pacifica
Swire Shipping
Tel: +64 029 572 8098
Email: janhendrik.hintz@swireshipping.com