Maersk rationalises Far East and Indian Subcon-N. Europe network

In an effort to rationalise and further optimise network between Far East and the Indian Subcontinent to North Europe, Maersk Line will be merging the ICON service with the Asia-Europe ‘Daily Maersk’ network.

The ICON service consists of seven Panmax vessels. Beside the optimisation for the Indian Subcontinent to North Europe trade this rationalisation will also help in the efforts to establish a more balanced supply/demand scenario within the Far East to North Europe trade.

The network changes will become effective post Chinese New Year (early February 2012), and will feature the following ICON product enhancements:

-  Dedicated feeder link between Chittagong and Tanjung Pelelas, providing access to the ‘Daily Maersk’ network.

-  AE7 service direct call in Colombo westbound, improving the transit time from Colombo to North Europe by 2-3 days

-  Weekly Chennai feeder via Colombo, improving on time delivery.

Exports from N. Europe to Indian Subcontinent, including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, will be covered on the AE1 service which will feature direct call in Colombo.

“These changes will not have any impact on our Daily Maersk network. The transportation times will remain unchanged,” the carrier said.

Maersk Line, a globally leading container shipping company operates a modern fleet of more than 500 vessels, 1.9 million containers, trucks and dedicated trains. Maersk Line employs around 16,900 people and operates from offices and container terminals in more than 125 countries. Maersk Line is a part of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group.

A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, with headquarters in Denmark, is a worldwide organisation with more than 115,000 employees and offices in over 130 countries. A.P. Moller – Maersk has served China’s foreign trade for more than 80 years and today, the Group is active in China within liner shipping, logistics, container terminal operation and management, inter-modal transportation, industrial manufacturing, procurement as well as marine equipment maintenance and repair.