Maersk Returns MECL Service to the Trans-Suez Route

Chennai:

Port Wings News Network:

The Suez Canal is a vital maritime corridor between East and West and a key driver of efficient global supply chains.

The route through the Suez and the Red Sea is the fastest, most sustainable and most efficient way to serve customers with transport between India, Middle East and the US East Coast.

By making the structural change of returning to the trans-Suez route for the MECL service, Maersk will offer significant improved transit times.

For westbound sailings, transit times will improve by an average of 7 days. On eastbound sailings, transit times will improve by an average of 14 days.

The first westbound sailing via the trans-Suez route will be on the Maersk Denver, voyage 627W. The first eastbound sailing via the trans-Suez route will be on the Maersk Chicago, voyage 624E.

Changes to our Eastbound rotation

In connection with the commencement of transit through the Red Sea, Maersk announced that the MECL will add an eastbound call in Jeddah. This change is expected to take effect during August.

With the implementation of the Jeddah call, the eastbound service rotation will be:

Charleston – Savannah – Houston – Norfolk – Newark – Tangiers – Jeddah – Salalah – Mundra – Pipavav – Nhava Sheva

Next Steps:

According to an advisory, Maersk will continue to monitor the security situation in the Middle East region very closely. The safety of crew, vessels, and customers’ cargo remains the highest priority.

Should the security situation change, which may necessitate reverting individual sailings or the wider structural change of the service back to the Cape of Good Hope route, we have contingency plans in place.

A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S is a Danish transport and logistics group active in ocean shipping, inland transport, supply-chain management and related logistics services.

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