Norwegian ro-ro provider Partner Shipping has established a new North America Pacific Asia (NAPA) service with Australia’s Praxis Logistics to answer “strong market demand” in the region. It will focus on automotive and high and heavy imports to Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
The new ‘triangle’ service will also target exports of cars, vans and equipment from Australia and New Zealand back to North America.
Its inaugural service will load from the Port of Long Beach, USA on June 10 aboard the MV Silverstone Express.
The vessel is one of two being built for Partner Shipping by Dutch shipbuilder Vroon (for an undisclosed figure) under a long-term agreement signed earlier this month; the other vessel will be the MV Sebring Express. Both are medium-sized PCTCs with a capacity of 3,930 vehicles, as well as for high and heavy cargo, and are under completion at Mitsubishi Heavy Industry in Japan.
Partner Shipping and Praxis Logistics were both established in 2008. The new service will operate under Partner Shipping’s name and will be co-managed by Praxis Logistics in Australia. At the moment the NAPA service marks the extent of the companies’ collaboration, though Partner Shipping’s Commercial Director Helge Helvik hinted at the potential for further collaboration based on the success of the new service.
“Presently, the relationship between Partner Shipping and Praxis is for the NAPA service, however, [both] parties may extend the same or add services if successful with its cooperation.”
Talking further about the aims of the new service, Mr Helvik told Automotive Logistics that what customers have been used to in the past in terms of ro-ro provision is not necessarily the standard. “We want to challenge that standard and shift the expectations, especially when it comes to reliability in terms of loading prospects and capacity, quality of the service and value for money. In today’s market, the cost of chartering new vessels and operating is obviously also assisting us in achieving our targets.”
