Maersk slows FEW1, raises FEW3 capacity 24%

   The ocean carrier Maersk Line has adjusted two of its three weekly Asia to West Africa services, slowing one and adding capacity to the other.
   The carrier added an additional vessel to its weekly Asia to West Africa FEW1 service, as well as new port calls at Port Kelang, Onne, and a fortnightly call at Pointe Noire, while dropping calls at Cotonou and Singapore. Roundtrip voyage time on the FEW1 has increased from 63 days to 70 days, and transit times westbound to Africa from Asia have been increased by about seven days as vessels slow steam one week between Maersk’s mega-regional hub in Tanjung Pelepas and Lome, Togo, now taking 29 days. 
   The revised rotation of the FEW1 loop is Singapore, Port Kelang, Tanjung Pelepas, Lome, Onne, Durban (fortnightly), Pointe Noire (fortnightly), and Port Kelang and Maersk plans to removed the Singapore call entirely in early August. 
   The FE1 is currently operated with 10 Maersk vessels, with an average capacity of 2,471 TEUs, and subsidiary Safmarine continues to take slots. 
   Meanwhile, Maersk has also raised capacity on one of its other weekly Asia to West Africa loops, the FEW3, by increasing the size of the vessels. 
   The carrier has already replaced four of the 12 vessels deployed on the FEW3, increasing average ship capacity by almost 24 percent, from 2,766 TEUs to 3,427 TEUs. 
   The port rotation of the FEW3 remains Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Nansha, Tanjung Pelepas, Cape Town, Pointe Noire, Tema, Cape Town, and Qingdao. Maersk provides 11 of the service’s 12 vessels, and the other is provided by subsidiary Safmarine. 
   In addition to the FEW1 and FEW3, Maersk operates one other similar direct weekly service between Asia and West Africa, the 11-ship FEW2, which calls at Walvis Bay, Apapa, and Abidjan to and from Busan, China, and Tanjung Pelepas. That service uses vessels with an average capacity of 4,497 TEUs. – ComPair Data, Ben Meyer