Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Zhuhai Port Group opened a shipping route to Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific islands with the ship Kota Hapas mooring at the Gaolan Port International Container Terminal on March 1.

Zhuhai Port [Photo courtesy Zhujiang Evening Post] 

Papua New Guinea is the second largest country in Oceania after neighboring Australia and 1.7 times the size of New Zealand. The container ship Kota Hapas, now en route from Shekou Port in Kowloon to the port of Lae in Papua New Guinea, has a length overall of 151 m and beam of 25 m. Her gross tonnage is 13,491 and she is due at Lae on March 11.

The new Zhuhai Gaolan-South Pacific (SPS) line is jointly developed by Pacific International Lines (PIS) and Mariana Express Lines (MELL). PIS is a privately owned multinational enterprise engaged in container shipping logistics. As one of the largest container ship owners in Southeast Asia, the company’s core business covers Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. It is also the largest shareholder of MELL, which offers nonstop weekly container expresses in the Asia-Pacific area. MELL announced that the route was opened in response to strong market demand.

The route encompasses three 1,100-teu container ships to offer stable service on two lines -- two week-based shift service from Gaolan to Lae, Noumea in New Caledonia, Suva and Loutoka in Fiji, and four-week based port calls at Honiara in the Solomon Islands, Majuro in the Marshall Islands, and Tarawa in the Republic of Kiribati. Route 1 runs via Nansha (in Guangzhou)-Gaolan-Hong Kong-Shekou-Lae-Honiara-Noumea-Suva-Loutoka-Lae-Nansha. Route 2 passes through Nansha-Gaolan-Hong Kong-Shekou-Lae-Noumea-Suva- Loutoka-Majuro-Nansha.

The multimodal transport route is a new logistics channel from Gaolan to the South Pacific islands and other regions of the Silk Road Economic Belt & 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (Belt & Road) Initiatives. Cargos from South China, southwestern, and south-central areas can more quickly reach countries in the South Pacific. Cargos from Northern China, Northeast Asia, and some Southeast Asia origins will be routed via Nansha and/or Hong Kong to connect with this new service, according to MELL.

Zhuhai Port will strengthen cooperation with ports along the line of the Belt & Road Initiative this year, and the initial voyage also intensifies the important status of Gaolan, a Zhuhai Port executive asserted. Belt & Road, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, is building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes. The initiatives, however, are open to all nations and are not limited by geography, according to Chinese government officials.