AP Moller-Maersk has announced changes to its services connecting Asia and Europe, as it aims to further improve schedule reliability and enable stable and reliable cargo deliveries to its customers on the 'world’s most comprehensive Asia-Europe Network'.
According to Maersk, the enhancements build on the Asia-Europe network changes in May 2018 which enabled the group to regain a market leading position on schedule reliability.
“To meet our customer’s increasing need for reliable cargo delivery, we have reviewed our service network and identified additional time to recover from the potential delays we continue to face from bad weather and other external factors,' said Johan Sigsgaard, head of Europe trade for AP Moller-Maersk.
'I am confident that these service changes will improve our overall schedule reliability, and I look forward to service our customers with this upgraded product,” he added.
Operating the industry’s 'most comprehensive' Asia-Europe network, Maersk will enable extra operational buffer time from a net reduction of eight port calls in the network.
The reductions are achieved with minimal impact to product offerings, the shipping group noted, through combining duplicate calls and competitive transshipment options.
This will result in significantly improved schedule reliability, enabled by slightly prolonged, yet competitive transit times.
A total of six extra vessels are being added across the ten service strings in the network, with weekly deployed capacity remaining unchanged due to slower vessel speeds.
According to Maersk, westbound sailings are scheduled to start in March 2019.
