Maersk plans slow ships to China

Maersk plans slow ships to China The world's biggest containerships will become slow boats to China — at least for a few weeks.
   Maersk Line said that for the next six weeks it would re-route the eastbound voyages of its Asia Europe 7 (AE7) service, around the Cape of Good Hope, rather than through the Suez Canal. Westbound voyages to Europe will continue to use the canal.
   Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for the company, said the new route would allow it to eliminate eastbound tolls, and run the ships at a reduced speed. The vessels will need an extra five to seven days to travel around Africa. He said the change in routing was a temporary measure, designed to coincide with the Chinese New Year and that one sailing would be dropped during the period.
   He confirmed a report first appearing at PRNewsService.com, which said transit costs for a fully loaded 11,000 TEUs ship, if fully loaded, could amount to $800,000.
   The AE7 service employs the Emma Maersk and seven sister ships, the largest containerships ever built, as well as one smaller ship. While Maersk rates the Emma Maersk and her sister ships as having capacities of 11,000 TEUs, most analysts say the vessels are capable of carrying 15,000 TEUs.
   While Maersk has rerouted some slow tankers and smaller ships with little freeboard away from the Gulf of Aden because of concerns about piracy, Storgaard said that was of little concern with the Emma Maersk-class ships because they are so large and fast.
   The present port rotation of the AE7 is Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Zeebrugge, Algeciras, Tanjung Pelepas, Yantian, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Algeciras, Rotterdam.
   Starting this week, ships leaving Algeciras will proceed straight to Shanghai.