News
Following the successful trans-Suez transits of the Maersk Sebarok (6,500 TEUs) and the Maersk Denver (6,696 TEUs), A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk) has decided to implement the first structural change of a service back to the trans-Suez route.
This applies to the MECL service, allowing Maersk to return to the service pattern originally designed and to provide customers with the most efficient transit times. The MECL service is solely operated by Maersk and connects the Middle East and India with the US East Coast.
The first sailing in the structural change of the MECL service was the Cornelia Maersk (voyage No. 603W) on the westbound trans-Suez route departing Jebel Ali last Thursday. The Maersk Detroit (voyage No. 602E), leaving North Charleston on Jan. 10, was the first eastbound sailing to use the trans-Suez route, with all subsequent sailings following this routing.
Maersk will continue to monitor the security situation in the Middle East region very closely, and any alteration to the MECL service will remain dependent on the ongoing stability in the Red Sea area and the absence of any escalation in conflicts in the region. The safety of crew, assets, and customers’ cargo remains the highest priority. Maersk has contingency plans in place should the security situation deteriorate, which may necessitate reverting individual MECL sailings or the wider structural change of the MECL service back to the Cape of Good Hope route.
