Taiwan group plans liner service
Taiwan's Kien Hung Shipping plans to launch a liner service within the next few months, sources say.
The service has been planned to connect North Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and west-coast South American ports.
It is believed Kien Hung plans a weekly service with a small fleet, expanding it as demand increases.
The fleet will involve 11 owned and chartered vessels of 1,500-teu (20 ft equivalent unit) capacity.
The sources said Kien Hung was due to take delivery of four 1,500-teu newbuildings from Shin Kurushim by September.
The route has not been finalised, but vessels are expected to run between Keelung, Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Auckland, Valparaiso, Iquique, Callao, Guayaquil, Tokyo, Kobe, and Keelung.
Kien Hung has been offering Australia-South American services, through Singapore, since August. Australia-South Asia vessels have performed the first leg, linking with the company's own Far East/South Africa/ECSA ships.
Kien Hung entered the trade through Australia agents Barbican Marine, which formerly represented the von Rantzau-controlled, now-closed Aus/NZ/South Africa/ECSA operator Barbican Line.
Since Barbican's demise the only direct service between Australia-New Zealand and South America has been by Mitsui OSK, which covers both coasts with three semi-containerships.
