Competitive rail freight rate could secure Darwin more China boxes

<p>Adelaide-Darwin rail operator FreightLink will need to strike a competitive freight rate if a trial shipment of boxes from China is to develop into a regular fixture, Hai Win Shipping said.</p> <p>The 10,300 dwt <em>Ursula</em> left Darwin last night (Sunday, November 28) after discharging cargo to be freighted by rail to Adelaide.</p> <p>Hai Win Shipping director Frank Guerra said five of the 40 containers (17 teu and 23 feu) had already left Darwin on rail this morning (Monday, November 29) and the rest were expected to leave tomorrow.</p> <p>Mr Guerra said he believed the option of using Darwin port and then rail to Adelaide could save as much as five days over other options.</p> <p>He estimates that under the Darwin option, shipments from Shanghai to Adelaide would take a total of 15 to 16 days, which would include 10 days from Shanghai into Darwin, then a day’s discharge, plus 48 hours on the rail. </p> <p>The option of going through Melbourne entails a 15- to 16-day sea voyage, all the "cargo availability" issues, cargo clearance, plus the time to rail to Adelaide for a total of about 21 days.</p> <p>"We are trialing it, but before we consider a fully-fledged service we need to trial the port and trial the railway, and we are doing all that," he said.</p> <p>Mr Guerra said the transition in the port of Darwin had gone well &#8211 a textbook occasion &#8211 but all under the watchful eye of local media and government dignitaries.</p> <p>"They [the port of Darwin&#93 did a good job, I was very happy with that," he said.</p> <p>"Will that happen in six months? I don’t know."</p> <p>Although the logistics of the trial shipment are operating smoothly at port and rail, the cost of this option has to be weighed up, he said.</p> <p>"The downside of all that is, the rate has to be competitive," Mr Guerra said.</p> <p>Hai Win has another vessel booked for January and will probably use the port of Darwin again.</p> <p>It will make a decision on the Darwin option once it has assessed the factors and received feedback from shippers.</p> <p>Mr Guerra said there is "an abundance of cargo" coming out of Asia for South Australia that could potentially go through Darwin.</p> <p>Hai Win Shipping, which is an amalgamation of "Shanghai" and "Darwin", is based in Melbourne.</p> <br />