Exporters embrace Northern Star service
In November 2024, Port Otago welcomed the Maersk Innoshima – the first vessel to berth in Port Chalmers as part of the new Northern Star service.
The weekly service operates a rotation of: Shanghai – Hong Kong – Brisbane – Auckland – Nelson – Timaru – Port Chalmers – Napier – Tauranga. Eight vessels service the route.
GM Customer Craig Usher says export customers value the direct service into China and are supporting the route well. “It’s appealing to our frozen and chilled food product customers, who have perishable, high-value products. That product is reaching the market quickly and in good condition.”
From Port Otago’s perspective, the Northern Star is a welcome addition to the company’s container business. “Maersk made a business decision to optimise its network and deliver significant value for customers, through unmatched quality and coverage. To pick up the Northern Star service is great, as it offers our exporters another shipping option.”
The eight Northern Star vessels are 2500-3000TEU, with a high proportion of reefer plugs, making them ideal for our agricultural-based export region.
Maersk Head of Oceania Market Hamza Hioul says the Northern Star service was introduced to strengthen New Zealand’s supply chain resilience and enhance connectivity between New Zealand and the Greater China area. “The Northern Star has been a positive addition to our network and supported Maersk’s industry-leading schedule reliability*. This is supported by rigorous planning to ensure sufficient empty container supply through the export peak season.
“Maersk is committed to delivering a superior product to New Zealand exporters and importers – one that is also agile enough to navigate unexpected disruptions with minimal impact to our customers’ cargo flows.”
*May 2025 Sea-Intelligence Global Liner Performance report: Re Asia-Oceania schedule reliability, Maersk is consistently outperforming the second-best carrier since March 2025, by an average of 25% on import and 10% on export shipments.
