The new North West Australia direct service (NWD) will offer additional shipping options for containerised, out-of-gauge and breakbulk cargo.
Swire Shipping will operate a new North West Australia direct service (NWD) from June 2021, offering customers a direct connection between Singapore and North West Australia. The new service is made up of two loops: the first loop will serve Singapore, Darwin, Port Hedland and operate with a transit time of 12 days from Singapore to Port Hedland; the second loop will operate from Singapore to Dampier, with a transit time of nine days.
Swire Shipping will deploy a geared 7,602DWT multi-purpose vessel, MV Souni, on Loop 1 of the new service (Singapore – Darwin – Port Hedland – Singapore). On Loop 2 (Singapore – Dampier – Singapore), Swire Shipping will have slot access to MV Karratha Bay, a 7,520DWT vessel operated by SeaSwift. Both vessels are capable of carrying containerised, out-of-gauge and breakbulk cargo.
The direct connections will enable Swire Shipping’s customers in the region to better plan their inventory and manage their supply chains more efficiently. Customers who previously relied on inland transport through the Fremantle gateway now have an additional option to transport cargo to/from North West Australia.
Mr Randy Selvaratnam, Swire Shipping’s General Manager for the Pacific, “We are pleased to offer customers in the region a direct connection between Singapore and North West Australia through our new NWD service. Over the past few years, we have made significant investments to improve our product offerings and provide more direct connections so that we can save our customers’ time.”
The new service between Singapore and Port Hedland also aims to reduce the overall carbon footprint from cargo delivery on current modes of transport. To transport cargo from Singapore to Port Hedland, customers previously needed to ship their cargo from Singapore to Fremantle before using inland transportation to Port Hedland.
Mr Selvaratnam added, “Swire Shipping is committed to having a positive impact on the communities and the environment where we operate. In addition to deploying modern and eco-friendly vessels, we also seek innovative ways to minimise our carbon footprint as part of our decarbonisation journey. This is one of the many steps we are taking to reduce overall carbon emissions and achieve our long-term goal of decarbonisation.”
