COSCO, OOCL and ANL's plans to dramatically upscale the size of the containerships deployed on their joint Asia-Australia service means that the size of ships calling at Australia's port of Melbourne will rise significantly.
The current string comprises five 5,500-6,000 TEU ships, however, Melbourne port's regulatory authority has been given the go-ahead for OOCL and Cosco to berth vessels in the 8,000-8,900 TEU range, reported UK's The Loadstar.
Specifically, the Victorian Ports Corporation (VPC) has given permission to conduct berthing trials for the 8,063 TEU OOCL Shenzhen, the 8,888 TEU OOCL Beijing and the 8,200 TEU Cosco China.
The trials will initially be carried out at the Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT), while simulation and studies to raise vessel sizes at Melbourne's Swanson Dock are ongoing.
The introduction of the new vessels will go some way to quietening accusations that Melbourne's two other terminal operators - DP World and Patrick - had been lobbying behind the scenes to prevent VICT from receiving authorisation to handle bigger ships.
Access to the DP World and Patrick terminals at Swanson Dock is limited and the longest ship to call there was the 306-metre, 6,500 TEU Al Kharj, and the two operators are understood to be worried that the introduction of larger containerships at the port would make their facilities uneconomical.
However, the continued delay in VICT receiving permission to accommodate larger vessels has also been blamed for Sydney overtaking Melbourne to become the country's top container gateway.
With Sydney now able to handle vessels of up to 10,000 TEU, its advantage is obvious, even though VICT claims it can handle ships up to 12,500 TEU provided it receives permission.
The berthing trials come amid a further expansion of shipping capacity into Australia, after Hyundai Merchant Marine, Evergreen and APL announced plans to commence a new Asia-Australia service in August.
The new A1X service, with five 4,600 TEU vessels, according to Alphaliner, will mark the first time HMM has deployed its own ships on the trade - it is expected to provide two of the five vessels.
Melbourne's container terminal operators are currently bidding to handle the service.
And in a further twist, OOCL and PIL are to welcome Cosco as a slot charterer to their joint Asia-Australia A service, and then split the string into two: the A1 and A2. This will see the six vessels of 5,400-5,888 TEU capacity increase to nine.
The splitting of the string is due to interest in a new direct call at Brisbane, as well as improving connections between Australia and Southeast Asian ports.
'The new A 1/A 2 enhancement is expected to add some five per cent to the total Far East-Australia capacity. It follows the recent announcement by HMM, Evergreen and APL of the launch of a new China-Australia service in August this year,' said Alphaliner.
The current string comprises five 5,500-6,000 TEU ships, however, Melbourne port's regulatory authority has been given the go-ahead for OOCL and Cosco to berth vessels in the 8,000-8,900 TEU range, reported UK's The Loadstar.
Specifically, the Victorian Ports Corporation (VPC) has given permission to conduct berthing trials for the 8,063 TEU OOCL Shenzhen, the 8,888 TEU OOCL Beijing and the 8,200 TEU Cosco China.
The trials will initially be carried out at the Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT), while simulation and studies to raise vessel sizes at Melbourne's Swanson Dock are ongoing.
The introduction of the new vessels will go some way to quietening accusations that Melbourne's two other terminal operators - DP World and Patrick - had been lobbying behind the scenes to prevent VICT from receiving authorisation to handle bigger ships.
Access to the DP World and Patrick terminals at Swanson Dock is limited and the longest ship to call there was the 306-metre, 6,500 TEU Al Kharj, and the two operators are understood to be worried that the introduction of larger containerships at the port would make their facilities uneconomical.
However, the continued delay in VICT receiving permission to accommodate larger vessels has also been blamed for Sydney overtaking Melbourne to become the country's top container gateway.
With Sydney now able to handle vessels of up to 10,000 TEU, its advantage is obvious, even though VICT claims it can handle ships up to 12,500 TEU provided it receives permission.
The berthing trials come amid a further expansion of shipping capacity into Australia, after Hyundai Merchant Marine, Evergreen and APL announced plans to commence a new Asia-Australia service in August.
The new A1X service, with five 4,600 TEU vessels, according to Alphaliner, will mark the first time HMM has deployed its own ships on the trade - it is expected to provide two of the five vessels.
Melbourne's container terminal operators are currently bidding to handle the service.
And in a further twist, OOCL and PIL are to welcome Cosco as a slot charterer to their joint Asia-Australia A service, and then split the string into two: the A1 and A2. This will see the six vessels of 5,400-5,888 TEU capacity increase to nine.
The splitting of the string is due to interest in a new direct call at Brisbane, as well as improving connections between Australia and Southeast Asian ports.
'The new A 1/A 2 enhancement is expected to add some five per cent to the total Far East-Australia capacity. It follows the recent announcement by HMM, Evergreen and APL of the launch of a new China-Australia service in August this year,' said Alphaliner.