Maersk Line Avoids Suez.(Maersk Line)(Brief article)

Maersk Line is to re-route its Asia Europe 7 (AE7) service around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope on the eastbound leg through late January and February, saving on fuel and Suez Canal transit costs, according to a report by PR News Service.

The AE7 service, which operates with eight vessels of around 11,000 TEUs each, backed up by an extra vessel of around 8,500 TEUs, will make the last Europe/Mediterranean call eastbound at Algeciras then head south around the Cape, a move that adds between five and seven days on eastbound transit times to Asia.

The vessels deployed on the AE7 are too large to make direct calls at ports in southern Africa, so the big …