Maersk has announced the termination of its services, Polaris and Sirius Star, in Oceania. The Danish carrier said that continued schedule disruption and terminal congestion across the continent have led them to this decision.
The Polaris service, which connects the port of Brisbane in Australia with the New Zealand ports of Timaru and Lyttelton, will have the following last voyage:
| Maersk Nansha | Voyage | Departure |
|---|---|---|
Brisbane | 225E | 23 June 2022 |
Timaru | 225E / 226W | 29 June 2022 |
Lyttelton | 225E / 226W | 1 July 2022 |
Brisbane | 226W | 6 July 2022 |
The last voyage details of the Sirius Star service, connecting New Zealand coastal ports and New Zealand with Fiji, are as follows:
| Seaspan Hannover | Voyage | Departure |
|---|---|---|
Nelson | 224S / 226N | 6 July 2022 |
Timaru | 224S / 226N | 10 July 2022 |
Lyttelton | 226N | 12 July 2022 |
Tauranga | 226N | 16 July 2022 |
Suva | 226N / 228S | 21 July 2022 |
Lautoka | 226N / 228S | 23 July 2022 |
Tauranga | 228S | 27 July 2022 |
Suva | TBC | 2 August 2022 |
Given the ongoing New Zealand port congestion and delays, the actual arrival and departure times along New Zealand coast might vary, noted Maersk in its statement.
The company said, "During the past 18 months, we have continued to review our Ocean Network to limit the impact of the global supply chain disruption on our Oceania customers and from the fourth quarter of the last year, we have consistently delivered a schedule reliability performance between 70-100% higher than the market average on Oceania to Asia trade."
Maersk added, "Whilst the Sirius Star service has been key to connecting cargo across New Zealand during the 2022 peak season, we continue to face missed connections negatively impacting our customers' supply chains and cargo flows."
The Danish box line concluded, "Due to restricted flexibility to alter the port rotation of the Sirius Star service, we have made the decision to restructure our Oceania network to enable improved cargo connections and supply chain stability."
