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Tasmania shipping route frustrates Australian exporters

Xinhua, February 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

A new shipping route coming out of Australia 's Tasmania does not include a long-promised link to Asia, frustrated local exporters who want a direct path to Asian hubs such as China and Singapore.

The route, announced this week by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, has drawn the ire of Tasmanian businesses because it provides access to markets in New Zealand and Oceania but not further north in Asia.

They claim they are still waiting for news of direct shipping lanes to Asia, something that was guaranteed by the Tasmanian government at the last election.

Steve Henty from the Tasmania Freight Logistics Council said on Friday that the announcement of a new shipping lane was promising but fell short of expectations.

"There are still certainly other routes we want, and this isn't as good as we hoped," he said.

"This route (run by the Mediterranean Shipping Company) will be originating in New Zealand, coming across to Melbourne, down into Bell Bay, up to Sydney, into Brisbane, across into New Caledonia and then back to New Zealand."

But Henty lamented the narrow scope of the route, saying "it's only to selected destinations".

Minister for Resources Paul Harriss maintained that a direct lane to Asia was still high on the priority list.

"It seems that the situation and the issue is reaching a tipping point. We're certainly going to keep fighting for Tasmanian exporters," he said. Endi