Maersk Line Monday once again denied it is planning to unleash an express 18-day service from the Far East to New York, when American Shipper asked to confirm information received that the shipping line has booked slots with the Panama Canal Authority for its 4,150-TEU B-class ships believed to have service speeds of about 29 to 30 knots.
Six of the seven ships in the Panamax series have been delivered from German subsidiary Volkswerft Stralsund. The last of which, Maersk Brownsville, was named on Sept. 3.
The ships are owned by London-based Maersk Co. Ltd. and are presently deployed on Maersk's Asia/U.S. West Coast TP8 loop. It is said that once all seven are available, Maersk will divert them through Panama to launch a market leading Hong Kong/Yantian/New York service that should attract lucrative time-critical cargo.
Not for the first time, Maersk said it has no such plans. "We review our network on an ongoing basis, including vessel deployment, to ensure the best service to our customers. However, we have at this point not made any decisions as to future changes in the vessel deployment of our B-class vessels," Maersk said in an e-mail.
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