A new shipping service that will connect Bell Bay with interstate ports and China has been met with great enthusiasm from the state’s peak industry body.
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Five Great Southern Shipping container vessels will service Bell Bay as of August, with the service calling into Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle, as well as the Chinese ports of Ningbo, Shanghai and Rizhao.
The service will commence after a deal was struck between Australian-owned GSS and the Chinese Rizhao Port Group.
Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Michael Bailey said any additional freight capacity going into China would be of great benefit to Tasmanian producers.
“What needs to be remembered is any line that’s taking products through to central ports, even ports like Fremantle for example which have ships going in all directions and all around the world is of great benefit, let alone linking to Asia which this new line brings,” he said.
Mr Bailey said the service would bolster competition and hoped it would help to reduce the cost of exporting Tasmanian goods..
“We know that one of the major charges and costs that businesses face is navigating the piece of water between Tasmania and Melbourne. The Bass Strait link is very expensive,” he said.
Once you have a ship loaded it’s actually not that expensive to keep it going so it certainly makes sense to take advantage of that and no doubt prices will be much more competitive with this new link.”
Shipping industry analyst Sandy Galbraith, director of Maritime Trade Intelligence, said the service would provide a “significantly cheaper” option for exporters.
Maritime Trade Intelligence is contracted to advise GSS.
Former spokesman of the lapsed Tasmanian Exporters Group, Bob Gozzi, said he supported any project that enhanced competition and brought Bell Bay “into the loop”.
“It’s all about increasing our options, the more shipping options we have, the better off the state is,” Mr Gozzi said.
Mr Bailey businesses in Launceston and the North-East would be pleased GSS had chosen to service Bell Bay.
He said there were question marks over whether Bell Bay could cope with larger vessels in the long-term future, but said the development showed GSS was confident in the port.
