| It was not
so long ago that the term
"transhipment
service" would send
a shiver up the spine of
New Zealand importers as
this type of service was
susceptible to all kinds
of problems between the
port of loading and the
final discharge
port.Their concerns were
not only for the longer
transit time compared to
the "direct"
shipping lines but there
was also the inherent
danger that their
container would not
connect with the feeder
vessel and end up sitting
on the transhipment wharf
for another week or so.
Worse still was the
prospect that their cargo
might get loaded onto the
wrong second vessel and
end up heading in the
other direction. 
Others
were more concerned about
the potential for damage
as a result of additional
handling of their cargo
and reefer shippers would
not get a good nights
sleep worrying about
their temperature
controlled product being
plugged into some wharf
facility whilst awaiting
to be loaded on another
ship.
It
was no surprise that the
direct carriers were able
to attract higher revenue
cargo and often benefited
from Letter of Credit
clauses that specified
"direct service
only" as some
insurance companies would
not cover tranship modes.
It
is fair to say that t/s
could be a haphazard
affair as in most cases
the first carrier and the
second carrier ( feeder
service) were separate
entities and their
shipping services were
not synchronized to
connect on a certain
date.
For
example; a shipment from
Tilbury in the U.K
destined for a NZ port
would be loaded on a
European/Asian service
and the container would
be discharged at a main
hub such as Singapore or
Hong Kong and then be t/s
onto a feeder service
running between Asia and
New Zealand. If the first
carrier was a weekly
service and the feeder
was fortnightly your
container could be having
a long wait between
drinks. If that was bad
enough then there was a
distinct possibility that
your cargo may be short
shipped anyway as the
feeder carrier would
certainly give first
priority to their own
cargo. Transhipment rates
between shipping lines
are at the bottom end of
the rate spectrum and
therefore likely to be
shut out to accomodate
higher paying traffic.
Sounds
bad doesn’t it?, but
my how time have changed
in this part of the world
over the past few years.
The phrase " Hub and
Spoke " is the new
terminology and it’s
caught on in a big way.
Carriers such as PONL
move cargo to and from
N.Z to anywhere in the
world via their hub in
Singapore.The advantage
that these larger
carriers offer is that
they operate both the
primary vessel and the
feeder which means they
can plan the schedules so
the vessels will connect
within a day of each
other. As a result the
transit time is just as
quick as direct
sailings,and in some
cases quicker as the
number of port calls have
been reduced and the
reliability has become a
selling point. The key is
to have a well oiled
regional hub and
Singapore seems to fill
this role perfectly.Their
economic success has been
due to cashing in on
their geographical
position and investing
hugely in the most
sophisticated terminals
that makes Singapore the
busiest port in the
world, not bad for a
country that produces
nothing!.Likewise Hong
Kong the main hub for the
Far East as is Rotterdam
in North European and the
throughpout in these hubs
is amazing.
Auckland
is also a regional hub .
Unfortunately our Pacific
Island neighbours such as
Tonga and Niue are not
quite in the same league
as the five tigers of
Asia.
Bugger.
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