Shipping line Maersk's announcement that its Southern Star service will move from Tauranga to the Port of Auckland is not unexpected, says Port of Tauranga CEO Mark Cairns.

The Southern Star service moved to the Port of Tauranga during the Auckland port's dispute with the Maritime Union in December 2011.

Maersk's Southern Star service is returning to Auckland from the Port of Tauranga.

'They are still going to be one of our largest customers. Obviously we are disappointed to lose them back to Auckland, but it was not unexpected,” says Mark.

'What's amusing though is they talk up the Southern Star service but they don't talk about losing the Northern Star service. We lose the import call for the Southern Star, and they lose the import call for the Northern Star, so there are pluses and minuses.”

Mark puts the changes down to the nature of container shipping, which is very dynamic business with changes occurring regularly.

'We probably did expect the southern star service to go back once the industrial relations climate settled down, and with this announcement there's the loss of the Southern Star input call and we are the last port on the Northern Star.”

'There's nothing cataclysmic about this, and Maersk still remain our largest customer,” says Mark.

The Northern and Southern Star is a two-loop, 10-vessel weekly service between Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore and New Zealand ports. The five vessels deployed on Southern Star will be upgraded in size, from a current 1,900 teu intake up to 2,800 teu.

In welcoming the move, Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson says the new service, with bigger ships and larger exchanges of containers, cements Ports of Auckland's position as the import port of choice.

'It also requires increased productivity from us, something our work over the last year has shown we can deliver – and there is potential for more,” says Tony.

Ports of Auckland has been restructuring since the 2011 dispute, improving processes, and implementing a new shift and roster system for over a third of stevedores.

The changes have seen productivity at Ports of Auckland lift significantly over the last year, says Tony.

Southern Star

Current rotation: Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Tauranga, Wellington, Nelson, Lyttelton, Port Chalmers, Tanjung Pelepas.

New rotation: Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Brisbane, Auckland, Lyttelton, Port Chalmers, Tanjung Pelepas.

Northern Star

Current rotation: Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Brisbane, Auckland, Tauranga, Tanjung Pelepas.

New rotation: Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Nelson, Wellington, Tauranga, Tanjung Pelepas.