GLOBAL shipping and logistics company, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) has made its inaugural call recently at Adelaide, Australia, with the arrival of m/v Aida on its route from Europe via North America.

The company said the ro-ro ship Aida, a pure car truck carrier (PCTC) with a capacity of 6,700 cars and built to the highest class of Lloyd's Register of Shipping.

The announcement comes on the heels of the recent addition of Galveston on the US east coast to the route, said the company statement. WWL carries cars to the Oceania but the trade is increasingly driven by Australia's mining and agricultural industries and the need for heavy equipment in the country.

"We have for some time seen increased demand in the market place for Adelaide, both from North America as well as Europe, mainly driven by large mining projects. We have had several inducement calls over the years and to support this continued customer demand we now establish a fixed port call," said Rob Lord, head of region Oceania.

Australia has an impressive number of mining projects being planned, with numerous projects approved each month. In 2010, Australia attracted 12 per cent of global mining exploration budgets.

The enhanced ocean service reflects WWL's ongoing desire to meet customer needs. It's part of a long history for the company: WWL ships first called at the port of Sydney in 1895, and have been sailing there ever since. In addition to Adelaide, the company has regular calls to Brisbane, Port Kembla, Melbourne and Fremantle in Australia as well as to Auckland in New Zealand.