DANISH shipping giant Maersk Line has announced a range of service changes affecting the routes from western Mediterranean and US east coast ports.
Maersk revamps services linking Mediterranean and US east coast ports DANISH shipping giant Maersk Line has announced a range of service changes affecting the routes from western Mediterranean and US east coast ports.
The last round trip for the current WestMed service will be the 4,360-TEU CC Jamaica from Malta-Marsaxlokk on May 27,, which will rotate through Livorno, Genoa, Marseilles-Fos, Barcelona, Valencia, Tangier, Newark, Norfolk, Virginia, Savannah, Algeciras and back to Malta-Marsaxlokk on July 7.The new rotation will consist of a dedicated country feeder coverage linking to the MECL1 and MECL2 services in Algeciras. It will offer a 13-day transit from Genoa to Newark and an 18-day transit from Newark to Livorno on the following rotation: Algeciras, Barcelona, Valencia and back to Algeciras.The north Italy loop will rotate through Genoa, La Spezia and Algeciras while the south Italy loop will go from Livorno to Salerno, Naples, Malta-Marsaxlokk, Algeciras, Marseilles-Fos and back to Algeciras.
The MECL1 rotation will be Algeciras, Newark, Charleston, Savannah, Norfolk, Newark and back to Algeciras, while the MECL2 will rotate through Algeciras, Newark, Savannah, Houston, Miami and back to Algeciras.
The ME2 and ME4 services will merge between Europe and the Middle East to form one larger service covering the West Med. The ME4 service as it exists today will be phased out while the new ME2 service will add a Genoa call, drop the transshipment port of Malta, and no longer serve India to the West Med, because that will be covered on the new MECL1 service via Algeciras.The new ME2 rotation will be: Jebel Ali, Dammam, Jubail, Abu Dhabi, Jebel Ali, Jeddah, Port Said, Tangiers, Algeciras, Valencia, Barcelona, Genoa, Port Said, Jeddah, Salalah and back to Jebel Ali.
The new service will be served with seven vessels in the 6,500 TEU range and will be phased in on May 27 at Jebel Ali, with the current 5,500-TEU Nedlloyd Tasman and the 6,500-TEU Maersk Semakau departing Jebel Ali on June 3.
The ME4 service vessels will start its phasing out in Jebel Ali from May 25 onwards, starting with the 4,500-TEU Leda Maersk, but will not continue to Europe. The 4,258-TEU Luna Maersk will be the last vessel of the ME4 service, which will phase out at Jebel Ali on June 28.
Maersk will also expand its ME3 service by adding six larger vessels of panamax size with more reefer plugs. These upgraded vessels will phase in starting May 30 on an eastbound call at Jebel Ali.
The ME3 port rotation will remain the same: Pipavav, Hazira, Nhava Sheva, Jebel Ali, Salalah, Port Said, Mersin, Ambarli, Izmit Korfezi, Port Said, Jeddah; Jebel Ali and back to Pipavav.
Maersk will also extend its CRX service to include St Petersburg and Kotka, Finland, to offer direct service from Central America, the Caribbean, Russia and to the Baltic ports in summer. The first vessel call will be in St Petersburg on May 21 with the 2,556-TEU Thekla Schulte.
