THE world's biggest container shipping company, Maersk Line, has closed its service between New Zealand and the South Pacific islands of Wallis, Futuna and Vanuatu.

After an "extensive review of the commercial and financial viability of our existing service offerings", the Danish carrier said it had taken no bookings since July 4.



"This is bad news for the French archipelago traders who were heavily dependent of the service to connect with global tradelanes," commented London's Containerisation International.



Maersk said that there were "no viable alternatives" to its service, but according to its website, the Auckland-based niche carrier, Sofrana Group, still offers regular service on combi ships.