Maersk to split Asia/Europe butterfly

Maersk to split Asia/Europe butterfly    Maersk Line said in a statement last week that, starting in April, it is splitting a butterfly service connecting Asia and Northern Europe.
   The line didn't give many specifics other than to say its AE10 service, which is part of a butterfly service incorporating its AE1 loop, will begin operating independent of the AE1 loop as of April 7.
   According to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data, the rotation for the existing butterfly service is Hakata, Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Hong Kong, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Tangiers, Jeddah, Jebel Ali, Ningbo, Shanghai, Kaohsiung, Yantian, Hong Kong, Tanjung Pelepas, Zeebrugge, Gdansk, Aarhus, Gothenburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Singapore, Da Chan Bay, Hong Kong and Hakata. The massive standalone service operates with 21 Maersk vessels with an average capacity of 8,785 TEUs.

Clerc

   The first half of the rotation (with calls in Japan and Korea and Scandinavian and Baltic ports) is the AE1 westbound and eastbound legs, while the second half (which focuses on China and Northern Europe's major hubs) makes up the AE10 legs.
   “Our customers have clearly requested more reliable services and better end to end connections so we have built such improvements into this network design,' said Vincent Clerc, vice president at Maersk Line. ' Eric Johnson