Maersk Sealand to add Asia/North Europe capacity

Maersk Sealand to add Asia/North Europe capacity

   Maersk Sealand will add a fourth Far East/north Europe container service in about June, as cargo volumes in this trade continue to rapidly rise.

   The “AE7” service will initially employ smaller ships of 2,500 to 5,000 TEUs, but will gradually shift to larger tonnage, a spokesman for the Danish mega-carrier said. The port rotation and fleet of the new service have not been finalized.

   Maersk Sealand has operated three Asia/North Europe and one Asia/Mediterranean weekly services.

   Maersk Sealand is the latest carrier to decide to add capacity to the thriving Asia/Europe trade. During the first quarter, China Shipping and Norasia added the “AEX 2” and “Round-The-World” services, while COSCO Container Lines, Yang Ming, Hanjin Shipping and Senator Lines launched a joint “Aegean Sea Direct Express” service.

   According to ComPairData’s latest quarterly World Liner Supply capacity reports, capacity in the westbound Asia/Europe trade expanded 25 percent between April 1, 2003 and April 1 of this year, to about 193,000 TEUs a week.