2M Alliance of Maersk and MSC has announced changes to its Asia - Europe network aiming to improve the reliability of its services and enhance their fuel efficiency.
As of week 23, the two giant ocean carriers have decided to inject one vessel into each of the AE5/Albatross, AE10/Silk, AE7/Condor, AE55/Griffin, AE11/Jade, AE12/Phoenix, AE15/Tiger services and two vessels into the AE6/Lion service.
"The added vessels will allow us to reduce speeds providing needed buffer to absorb schedule challenges, improving reliability, and decreasing the risk of void sailings," said Maersk in a statement. The speed reductions are also expected to reduce emissions significantly, according to a statement.
The aforementioned changes announced by the largest container shipping alliance in the world are anticipated to have an impact on average transit times. The two partners noted that the average transit time from Asia to North Europe will be increased by three days, from Asia to the Mediterranean by two days, from North Europe to Asia by three days and from the Mediterranean to Asia by three days.
In addition to the above changes, MSC said that a direct call at Xiamen port in China will be induced on the AE55/Griffin service instead of the current call on the AE10/Silk service, while the AE6/Lion service westbound rotation will be amended to call at Antwerp in Belgium after Sines, Portugal and before Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
