Famous Pacific Shipping (NZ) in LCL Expansion to Pacific Islands

Auckland, Australia, May 13, 2010 --(PR.com)-- One of the main factors in the expansion has been the lack of direct shipping services from any New Zealand port to Micronesian destinations, says Marcus Goldsworthy, FPS (NZ) managing director.

Mr Goldsworthy says: “Importers in the region are looking to source growing volumes of material from New Zealand - from building products through to New Zealand wines. We expect that as a reliable service now exists, trade will follow.

“FPS is a recognised and respected supplier of services throughout the South Pacific and we see this expansion into the North West Pacific as a natural progression that will benefit both New Zealand exporters and importers and trade across the Pacific islands.

“We are working with Reef Shipping, which operates scheduled services from New Zealand and Australia to the majority of the Pacific Island nations and is the sole service provider to some key ports, including Niue, Aitutaki and Vavau. Reef also offers an FCL transhipment service from Asia into the Pacific Islands. The great benefit that Reef Shipping has offered us is direct transit: previously our cargo had to transit over South Korea, Hong Kong or Singapore, adding weeks to a very long and inconsistent supply chain.”

All LCL cargo will be consolidated at FPS’s facility in Auckland. Against a background of growing trade between New Zealand and Micronesia, FPS NZ’s new service will operate every 18 days from Auckland with a three-week transit time to Majuro, Micronesia, and four weeks to Guam.

A key destination is Guam, the largest market in the islands. This is a result of an expanding presence and demand from US military forces being based on the island.

Mr Goldsworthy says: “This expansion in capacity to our Pacific trading partners comes at just the right time. I see that the executive director of Export NZ, Catherine Beard, is saying that exporters are reporting difficulty in securing container space. This means this new service is both timely and valuable to this regional trading lane and one that NZ exporters will welcome.”

Destinations in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) include: Saipan, Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. Transit times to these ports are to be confirmed.

In recent years New Zealand's trade with the Pacific Islands has shown a steady increase. Meat, dairy products, and other foodstuffs, which New Zealand has been exporting to the Pacific Islands since before the turn of the 20th century, have played an important part in building up trade, but of late increasing interest is also being shown in manufactured goods.

FPS NZ launched its Pacific Islands services in 2001. These now include a weekly container service providing a direct link between Auckland and Fiji, with onward connections to other islands including Kiribati, Wallis Island and Funafuti. With a four-day transit time to Suva, FPS can handle FCL and LCL shipments, as well as breakbulk cargo and heavy loads.

FPS NZ is based in Auckland, but also has offices in Christchurch and in the Fiji Islands ports of Suva and Lautoka.

The company is an affiliate of the Famous Pacific Shipping Group, an international freight network, comprising over 70 member companies in 54 countries worldwide, operating under the FPS banner. The FPS Group specialises in ocean and airfreight forwarding, supported by overland operations, warehousing and supply chain management services.

###