The GAC Group has announced a major expansion plan with the opening of 13 ship agency offices in major ports throughout Australia.

The locations include Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone and Brisbane in Queensland; Sydney (country headquarters), Newcastle and Port Kembla in New South Wales; Melbourne in Victoria; Adelaide in South Australia; and Fremantle, Dampier and Port Hedland in Western Australia. Each office will offer a full range of ship agency and maritime ancillary services.

Announcing GAC's latest move from the Sydney headquarters, Christer Sjödoff, GAC Regional Director, Asia Pacific, says that it is the first time in the group's 51-year history that it has launched such a large number of offices in a single country within a span of just two months.

"Australia's exports are continuing to grow, especially in the dry bulk and LNG (liquefied natural gas ) sectors. This, in turn, will see a corresponding growth in the number of vessels calling at Australian ports to export these commodities globally. GAC is a major agency for many of these vessel owners and charterers and we want to be here to give our clients the best in shipping services support."