Maersk is launching a new dedicated service between Greater China and Australia, branded as Qilin, set to commence on July 24, 2026. The service will cover a lean rotation of Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne, offering faster transit times and increased capacity on one of the Asia-Pacific trade lane’s key corridors.
Qilin is designed to complement Maersk’s existing Dragon service, which will continue to operate unchanged. While Dragon provides established reliability on the China-Australia trade, the new Qilin service targets shipowners and shippers seeking significantly reduced transit times and weekly departures.
The transit time improvements are considerable across all directions. Shanghai to Sydney will drop from 18 days on the Dragon service to 14 days on Qilin, while Shanghai to Melbourne will improve from 21 days to 17 days. On the northbound leg, Sydney to Shanghai will be cut from 28 days to 19 days, and Melbourne to Shanghai from 24 days to 15 days.
The addition of Qilin reflects Maersk’s continued commitment to the Australian market and its strategy of offering differentiated products to meet varying supply chain needs. The carrier says the new service will provide increased capacity to support business growth for customers operating between China and Australia’s two largest port cities.
Further details on vessel deployment and booking availability are expected ahead of the July 24 launch date.
