Northland businesses wanting to move freight now have the option of a new weekly container shipping service linking Marsden Point with Tauranga, Auckland and Lyttelton.

Pacifica Shipping has been running fortnightly coastal services from Northport since 2016. The new weekly service ensures much more frequent, efficient connections between Northland and the world, and gives shippers more options to reduce their carbon footprint and improve supply chain resilience and efficiency.

Northland exporters can have their containers loaded at Northport and just over 12 hours later the ship will be in Tauranga, from where there are daily connections available to almost anywhere.

This weekly service also means improved freight transit times for Northland importers and will improve efficiencies for businesses that want to move freight within New Zealand as it bypasses State Highway 1 detours, Auckland traffic and the Cook Strait.

Container traffic through Marsden Point has been growing steadily in recent years. Northport also offers container packing and unpacking services, storage options, and power for refrigerated containers.