MEARSK LINE: Novel Coronavirus updates

5 February 2020:

To all our valued customers:

We would like to offer you our latest update on the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus in the Hubei province and any impact to Maersk’s operations in Greater China. 

General Status

For Greater China Area, terminal operations continue vessel loading and discharge at current stage. All the warehouses, depots and offices follow instructions of local government to resume operation. The barge operation from Wuhan gradually resumes operation and backlogs in the process of being cleaned up. 

Network adjustments – blankings and inducement calls

As we see a further reduction in demand due to the extended holiday period, we have since last update announced the following network adjustments:

TP9 cancelled sailing between Far East Asia and US West Coast starting Eastbound Kaohsiung on 2 Feb.

TP2 cancelled sailing between Far East Asia and US West Coast starting Eastbound Yantian 9 Feb.

TP18 cancelled sailing between Far East Asia and US East Coast starting Eastbound Ningbo 17 Feb.

AC3 cancelled sailing between Far East Asia and South America West Coast starting Eastbound Ningbo 7 Feb.

AC3 cancelled sailing between Far East Asia and South America West Coast starting Eastbound Ningbo 14 Feb.

AC3 cancelled sailing between Far East Asia and South America West Coast starting Eastbound Ningbo 21 Feb. 

Dragon Service - Hong Kong Inducement Call to provide coverage for Australia following recent YoYo service blankings. Sailing between Far East Asia and Oceania starting Southbound Busan 8 Feb. 

Please refer to specific customer advisories for further information. We continue to monitor the situation and assess any further network capacity adjustments. We will update you as soon as any decision is made to change our network.

Reefer congestion in several Chinese ports

With the current situation pick up of reefer containers has slowed across several Chinese ports causing a shortage of reefer plugs especially in Shanghai and Xingang terminals. We are working to mitigate the impact and have introduced several short term actions. We are reaching out to our reefer customers directly to discuss alternatives and mitigation plans. 

Holiday Extensions 

In line with below work resuming dates, to largely protect the safety of our people, the majority of them are working from home; while for areas where our staff are still on extended holiday, Greater China teams are working on on-duty plans together with our global network in collaboration with our customers to expedite logistics options.

Source: MEARSK