In a long-winded description, Maersk gave a descriptive update on how it is handling global manufacturing and service sentiment while being in the center of the chaos that has seemed to overtake the freight industry. Maersk painted the image of a bright future before mentioning all the delays occurring in the Asian Pacific.
Maersk justified the delays using the commonly used cop-outs of the current Rusia-Ukraine conflict and supply chain disruptions partly from China’s zero-Covid-19 policy. However, not without reminding its customers of its seemingly seamless history: “The Maersk group remains the most reliable carrier in Oceania with its OC1 service to the US providing 93% reliability. The Southern Star service, linking Oceania with Southeast Asia, is the most reliable, delivering 94% schedule reliability in April.”
After boosting in its glory, Maersk described a new deal with New Zealand that it believes would increase Maersk’s airfreight capabilities while simultaneously improving port connectivity and schedule reliability for customers residing in New Zealand. The deal, otherwise known as Maersk Coastal Connect, is set to launch at some point this month, July; and Maersk describes it as a ‘game-changer.
The service has set expectations that not only enable the improvement of connectivity to international markets via Maersk hubs but also provide Maersk with better coverage in the ports of New Zealand. The local improvement includes coverage and better communication, “The service will have a weekly call frequency at Tauranga, Timaru, and Lyttelton and fortnightly coverage at Nelson and Auckland.”
Alongside this new deal came the finalization of Maersk’s acquisition of global freight forwarding company Senator International. Maersk claimed they acquired the company in hopes that it would further enable Maersk to “offer an even wider range of products and the ability to provide flexible and integrated logistics solutions to our customers, allowing them to speed up or slow down cargo depending on their changing supply chain needs.”
Senator said in their announcement that it gives Maersk “A strong organization and a well-developed airfreight network comprising own controlled flights and long-term partnerships with best-in-class airlines, a well-established full container load (FCL) and less than container load (LCL) network and specialized services such packaging, warehousing and distribution across five continents.”
With the ability to control the speed of cargo delivery, alongside the acquisition of Senator International, it seems as though Maersk has the world within its reach. However, a bright future usually comes with a dim past, that past being the current Asian Pacific supply-chain delays.
