The new North West Australia direct service (NWD) will offer an additional shipping option to our customers and reduce
overall carbon emissions
Singapore – Swire Shipping will operate a new North West Australia direct service (NWD) from June 2021, offering
customers a direct connection between Singapore and North West Australia. The new service is made up of two loops: the
first loop will serve Singapore, Darwin, Port Hedland and operate with a transit time of 12 days from Singapore to Port
Hedland; the second loop will operate from Singapore to Dampier, with a transit time of nine days.
The direct connections will enable Swire Shipping’s customers in the region to better plan their inventory and manage
their supply chains more efficiently. Customers who previously relied on inland transport through the Fremantle gateway
now have an additional option to transport cargo to/from North West Australia.
Said Mr Randy Selvaratnam, Swire Shipping’s General Manager for the Pacific, “We are pleased to offer customers in the
region a direct connection between Singapore and North West Australia through our new NWD service. Over the past few
years, we have made significant investments to improve our product offerings and provide more direct connections so that
we can save our customers’ time.”
The new service between Singapore and Port Hedland also aims to reduce the overall carbon footprint from cargo delivery
on current modes of transport. To transport cargo from Singapore to Port Hedland, customers previously needed to ship
their cargo from
Singapore to Fremantle before using inland transportation to Port Hedland. With this new service, customers can now ship
their cargo directly from Singapore to Port Hedland, which will reduce carbon emissions by up to 35,000 metric tons a
year [1], the equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions produced from 7,600 passenger vehicles in a year [2].
Mr Selvaratnam added, “Swire Shipping is committed to having a positive impact on the communities and the environment
where we operate. In addition to deploying modern and eco-friendly vessels, we also seek innovative ways to minimise our
carbon footprint as part of our decarbonisation journey. This is one of the many steps we are taking to reduce overall
carbon emissions and achieve our long-term goal of decarbonisation.”
Swire Shipping will deploy a geared 7,602DWT multi-purpose vessel, MV Souni, on Loop 1 of the new service (Singapore –
Darwin – Port Hedland – Singapore). On Loop 2 (Singapore – Dampier – Singapore), Swire Shipping will have slot access to
MV Karratha Bay, a 7,520DWT vessel operated by SeaSwift. Both vessels are capable of carrying containerised,
out-of-gauge and breakbulk cargo.
Swire Shipping has worked closely with customers across various industries and is well-established in serving
Australia’s regional ports. Across its network, Swire Shipping operates eight services connecting Australia to the rest
of the world. With a commitment to enrich lives by connecting customers and communities in the Pacific, Swire Shipping
strives to increase its network connectivity and improve its overall product offerings by offering direct services to
the region.
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1 Calculated based on moving 12,000 containers per annum
2 Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, United States Environmental