Maersk sets to enhance customer experience with brand-new Southeast Asia to Australia network
Maersk has unveiled its new Southeast Asia to Australia network, designed to improve schedule reliability and boost supply chain resilience for the region. Putting customers and their needs first, this new network will improve port coverage and provide greater protection against congestion and disruptions.
The network’s configuration was reimagined following a careful review that drew on customer insights and exemplified Maersk’s commitment to continuous improvement. It is inspired by the hub and spoke model, which resembles a bicycle wheel with delivery routes (the spokes) converging on a single hub. The network will consist of 16 ships across three services to minimize overlap while providing the best possible coverage.
Although the worst of the disruptions seen during the COVID-19 pandemic have eased, some will continue and new challenges will emerge. Maersk’s investment in the new network provides a significant buffer to mitigate the impact of disruptions.
Ocean transport is key to the Australian economy, and we are excited to bring improved supply chain solutions to our customers. This year marks our 30th anniversary in Australia and we are grateful for the strong local relationships and the trust of our customers over the past three decades. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we made significant investments in our network in Oceania to keep the supply chain running. With the launch of our new Australia/South East Asia network, we will restore the reliability and flexibility of our Australian customers’ supply chain. Our new network also provides excellent Australia coastal connectivity to enable domestic trade routes and multimodal transport options for our customers in Australia.
My Therese Blank
Maersk’s Head of Oceania Exports.
The three services that make up the new network will connect the five main Australian ports of Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney to the world via the ports of Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia. They are the Greater Australia Connect (GAC), the Eastern Australia Connect (EAC) and the Western Australia Connect (WAC).
The new services will replace the Cobra and Komodo services and will ensure that critical connections to key international services are maintained. They simplify and connect customers’ end-to-end supply chain, while also ensuring Australia’s international and domestic freight connectivity.
What was a fundamental change in the design of the network is that we put ourselves in our customers’ shoes. The primary principle that guided us through this process was the impact on the customer and how we, as their trusted logistics partner, can proactively anticipate potential risks and eradicate them. This new network will ensure that we achieve just that – improving the reliability of our services and providing better protection in the event of outages.
Ioanna Prassou
Maersk’s network and market manager of Oceania imports.
We’re really looking forward to activating this new and improved network, which puts our customers at the center and delivers on our promise to them. It will also demonstrate agility and care in how we connect and simplify our customers’ supply chains.
Hrishikesh Milind Bapat
Head of Ocean Fulfillment, Australia Market for Maersk.
The first sailings under the new network are scheduled for March 2023.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/VBPJYC2LK5PVVMST33H2DBBMOM.jpg?resize=300,300 "Australia risks losing pole position in critical minerals race")
