Swire Shipping has enhanced the carrying capacity on its Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands service.
The company said that it has deployed Changsha, the first of eight feeder vessel newbuildings to the service on 23 March 2020.
As the liner shipping division of The China Navigation Company (CNCo), Swire Shipping provides several liner services in the Asia Pacific markets.
In 2018, the newbuildings, with individual capacities ranging from 2,350TEU to 2,700TEU, were all ordered from Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, part of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, for delivery within 2020.
Swire Shipping is renewing its fleet with the eco-designed newbuildings and, by the time these vessels are delivered, the company will have scrapped 14 older and smaller feeder ships.
The eight newbuild container vessels will join a fleet that includes eight 2,118TEU multipurpose vessels and four 1,627TEU multipurpose vessels delivered between 2013 and 2015.
Swire Shipping’s general manager Jeremy Sutton said, “Like many other companies, we are very concerned about the global situation over Covid-19. However, we are also cognisant that vital supply chains must remain open with as little disruption as possible. The economies and livelihoods of the Pacific region are heavily reliant on seaborne trade.
“Our purpose as a company is to enrich lives by connecting our customers with the communities of the Pacific. The addition of Changsha and the remaining newbuilding vessels will enable us to achieve this and show our long-term commitment to our customers and the region.”
Swire Shipping has also redesigned its website for easier booking. “We want to save our customers’ time. Speed to market is important to our customers, and we want to enable that,” said Sutton.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
