OOCL Restarts Wellington Calls
Illustration; Image Courtesy: OOCL Hong Kong-based container carrier Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) revealed plans to resume its calls to Wellington, New Zealand, starting from September.
The company has decided to return to Wellington after the port underwent structural repairs following the November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. In the earthquake of a magnitude 7.8, CentrePort Wellington sustained substantial damage to the buildings and the port.
The 4,335 TEU containership Kota APL is scheduled to make its first call at Wellington on September 29, according to a notice issued by OOCL.
The vessel is part of the company’s New Zealand/South East Asia Express (NZS) service which is to resume its weekly call at Centre Port Wellington, a representative from OOCL told World Maritime News.
Earlier, another container shipping company, Maersk Line, said it intends to resume its weekly container shipping service to Wellington. The 3,000 TEU Jens Maersk is to arrive at CentrePort on September 18.
In February, a vessel operated by shipping company ANL, part of CMA CGM, started visiting the port to drop off and pick up containers with its own cranes. The port’s gantry cranes were made inoperable by the earthquake, however, they are expected to be largely complete by September.
World Maritime News Staff
