05 Oct 2020
Consort Express Lines signs two-year agreement with PNG Ports Corporation
Consort Express Lines has signed a two-year agreement with PNG Ports Corporation Limited (PNG Ports), committing to use PNG Ports facilities for its scheduled liner services in all locations where PNG Ports operates.
“A partnership with PNG Ports Corporation makes sense with our shared focus on safety, security and long-term approach to PNG,” says Consort Express Lines’ General Manager Thomas Bellamy, “and while there are other reliable port operators in country there is no other that maintains and manages port facilities country-wide.”
Mr Bellamy commented that shipping volumes have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the same vein as PNG businesses in general and that it is “an additional bonus to be able to put the domestic container volume carried by Consort through PNG Ports Corporation facilities at a time when revenues are under pressure”.
PNG Port’s Managing Director Fego Kiniafa says PNG Ports is pleased to have entered this partnership with Consort Express Lines which will benefit all Papua New Guineans.
“I would like to thank Consort for its confidence in PNG Ports as a reputable state-owned enterprise and for sealing our association with Consort throughout the years with this agreement,” Mr Kiniafa said.
“We are delighted to be part of the growth of Consort, as its parent company, Steamships Trading Company, has been a part of ours over many decades.”
“PNG Ports is ready and we look forward to working more with Consort over the next two years as we strive to maintain the flow of goods to this nation, during the pandemic and onwards.”
PNG Ports Corporation is one of the oldest state owned entities in Papua New Guinea and is the sole authority over all declared ports in the country, itself managing 15 of those 23 declared ports. PNG Ports Corporate Limited history can be traced back to the Harbours Board Act of 1963.
Consort Express Lines has been offering liner shipping services throughout coastal regions of Papua New Guinea since 1978, and in various forms before that for one hundred years. Consort Express Lines has had a long-lasting affiliation with PNG Ports Corporation and is confident the new arrangement will lead to a stronger partnership.
Both PNG Ports Corporation and Consort Express Lines continue to make long-term investments in infrastructure, people and technology – providing safer, more efficient service delivery for their customers and stakeholders.
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