Maersk cuts Asia/Europe capacity

Maersk cuts Asia/Europe capacity    Maersk Line said Tuesday it will reduce Asia/Europe capacity by about 10 percent, suspending is AE-9 service from mid-November, to match lower seasonal demand.
   “A few weeks ago, we said that we were ready to adjust our capacity to post-peak demand levels, and that is what we are announcing today,” said Lee Sissons, director of Maersk Line’s Asia/North Europe trade. “We are taking out one service — the AE9 — for a period of time. We will make some adjustments to our network to maintain our high schedule reliability and extensive coverage. Therefore we are hopeful our customers will not see a disruption in the services we provide.”
   American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data said the AE9 uses nine ships with average capacity of 8,040 TEUs.
   Maersk said it would reinstate the AE9 service as demand levels dictate, and after Chinese New Year, expected to remove capacity once again in line with market demand. Chinese New Year begins Feb. 14.
   In addition, Maersk will reduce capacity from Asia to the United States in December when its TP1 service is ended, due to a decision by Horizon Lines to take back that service and market it on its own. Maersk said it doesn't intend to replace that eastbound capacity, and other Maersk Line strings would cover the vacated capacity.
   A company spokesman said the company “can redeploy capacity if necessary. Market demand is the driver. There are no decisions about removing additional capacity at this time. Should the market drop we would review; additional capacity could be withdrawn but there is no indication of this at this time.”