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Maersk has announced changes to its Asia – Europe network aiming to improve the reliability of its services and enhance their fuel efficiency.

As of week 23, Maersk has decided to inject one vessel into each of the AE5, AE10, AE7, AE55, AE11, AE12, AE15 services and two vessels into the AE6 service.

“The added vessels will allow us to reduce speeds providing needed buffer to absorb schedule challenges, improving reliability, and decreasing the risk of void sailings,” said Maersk in a statement. The speed reductions are also expected to reduce emissions significantly, according to the ocean carrier.

The aforementioned changes announced by the Danish shipping company are anticipated to have an impact on average transit times. Maersk noted that the average transit time from Asia to North Europe will be increased by three days, from Asia to the Mediterranean by two days, from North Europe to Asia by three days and from the Mediterranean to Asia by three days.

Source: Container News

A.P. Moller – Maersk has announced the launch of a new ocean shipping service, ‘Shaheen Express’, which started the previous week.

The new service will rotate between Mundra, Pipavav, Jebel Ali, Dammam, and Jebel Ali and back to Mundra, connecting India, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.

With the new service, Maersk aims to address the rising demand in the trade between the Indian and the Gulf markets. The ‘Shaheen Express’ will include two vessels with a nominal capacity of 1,700 TEUs per week.

India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) entered into force in May 2022, which is steadily boosting the volumes of trade between the two countries.

The main commodities moving between these two countries that will benefit from the increased capacity include FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) such as electronics, perishables such as foodstuff, retail goods including textile and apparel, and chemicals.

“The markets have started stabilising, and the ocean networks are normalising after over two years of disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time, not only did we strive hard to ensure we addressed all our customers’ challenges, but we also got a chance to look ahead and understand what their requirements would be in the future,” commented Bhavan Vempati, head of regional ocean management, Maersk West & Central Asia.

Source: Container News

A.P. Moller – Maersk has established a new warehouse specialised in handling batteries for electric cars in the northern part of the Czech Republic.

The Danish company aims to expand its logistics network in the automotive industry and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across Central Europe.

Located in Teplice, the new 14,000m² facility is within a short distance of a range of car makers and suppliers in the Czech Republic as well as Eastern and Southern Germany.

Maersk said the batteries can be efficiently delivered by train from the major European ports in Hamburg (Germany), Bremerhaven (Germany), Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Koper (Slovenia), or Rijeka (Croatia). Additionally, thanks to the warehouse’s good connection to the Czech and German motorway networks, the batteries can be distributed from Teplice to the surrounding car production sites within a few hours, according to Maersk.

“We are an experienced and trusted partner in transportation and logistics for automotive customers. Our processes are widely audited and approved by car makers and OEMs. We are thrilled that we are taking the next step now with this special warehouse, offering dedicated services for electric car batteries right in the heart of the Czech and German car maker clusters,” comented Leah Offutt, Maersk Central South Europe managing director.

The warehouse is equipped with thermal monitoring cameras and in-rack sprinklers, while the space will be divided into four independent, fire-resistant compartments.

Furthermore, for repacking, the services offered in the special warehouse include in-depth quality controls and charging of the batteries as well as other value-adding services along automotive supply chains, noted Maersk.

Meanwhile, Maersk is also building a new deep-water terminal in Rijeka, which is scheduled to be inaugurated in 2025. It is expected to increase handling capacity in the Eastern Adriatic and significantly reduce the transit times and thus also CO2 emissions of transports from Asia to Europe and especially to Croatia, the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries.

Two further warehouses for dry cargo were recently opened in Kladno, close to Prague, with 10,000 m² space and Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, with 4,100 m² space. A third 11,700 m² warehouse will be inaugurated in spring 2023 in Rijeka.

Source: Container News

Danish box carrier Maersk will add a ninth vessel to the fleet of its weekly North Europe – East Coast of South America “Samba” service in November, while it will also add Tanger Med southbound call to the service’s port rotation.

As a result, nine vessels of 10,500 TEU capacity will be deployed on the Samba service, which will have the following rotation: London-Gateway, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Tanger Med, Santos, Paranagua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Paranagua, Santos, Tanger Med, London-Gateway.

The first ship following the extended rotation will be the 10,589 TEU Cap San Antonio, scheduled to sail ex Antwerp on 15 November, while the extra boxship for the “Samba” fleet will be the 10,500 TEU Cap San Tainaro.

The extension of the round trip time will not lead to the reinstatement of calls at Itapoa or Le Havre, according to a statement.

It is important to note that french ocean carrier CMA CGM and Chinese box line COSCO Shipping Lines are co-loading on the “Samba” service using “Safran” and “ESE” brand names, respectively.

“The changes are intended to restore the reliability in East Coast South America & North Europe and deliver higher level of predictability of your cargo delivery, while providing improved product offerings from Mediterranean & Middle East to East Coast South America,” said Maersk in a customer advisory.

A.P. Møller – Mærsk has announced that its financial results for the second quarter of 2022 are ahead of its previous expectations.

The Danish container line reported a revenue of US$21.7 billion, an underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of US$10.3 billion and an underlying EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of US$8.9 billion.

“The strong result is driven by the continuation of the exceptional market situation within Ocean,” said Maersk, which pointed out that high freight rates have remained longer than expected due to port congestion issues in key markets worldwide.

Consequently, the company’s full-year guidance for 2022 has been revised upwards with underlying EBITDA now expected to be around US$37 billion and underlying EBIT expected around US$31 billion, both increased by US$7 billion compared with the previous expectations.

The free cash flow (FCF) for the full-year 2022 is now expected to be above US$24 billion, while the cumulative CAPEX (capital expenditure) guidance for 2022-23 is unchanged at US$9-10 billion.

Maersk, which will publish its second-quarter results tomorrow (3 August), noted that 2022 guidance is currently based on an expected gradual normalisation in its ocean sector in the fourth quarter of the year.

Source: Container News