Shipping carrier quits Australia

But the big question is how large would this potential gap in trade be?

Cameron Tomes, spokesperson at the Port of Brisbane, told Port Strategy: “From the Port of Brisbane’s perspective this announcement will have no impact on our operations. If anything, we expect the additional capacity to be taken up by the remaining lines.”

And this view is echoed by the Port of Melbourne which handles more than 2.5 m teu (37% of Australia’s container trade) each year.

A port spokesperson from the Port of Melbourne took the same stance. They explained to PS that the top ten container lines servicing Melbourne carry 1.6 m teu, which is 66% of the port’s total container trade.

All the other container lines calling at the port, including Zim, account for the balance of the container trade – each constituting a much smaller percentage of trade.

PS approached Zim Shipping on why the service has been cancelled but the carrier has so far not come back to comment.