World leading shipping line Maersk announces Freeport ‘hub’

Malta Freeport made the announcement that A.P. Moller Maersk Line will begin calling at the Freeport in Marsaxlokk on a regular basis on Tuesday.

Maersk Line currently employs 16,900 employees and 7,600 Seafarers and has around 325 representation offices located in over 125 countries.

It is the core shipping activity of A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, with a fleet of over 500 vessels. Maersk Line and Seago Line are locally represented by Thomas and Smith Group.

“Maersk Line’s expectation for Malta Freeport is to deliver a valuable, highly productive operation that will be the key to a prosperous working relationship,” said Managing Director for Maersk Italia Todd Pigeon. “Based in Malta Freeport’s selection, the Maltese market now has a reach to Maersk Line’s global network at more competitive levels.”

Thomas Smith Group Managing Director Joe Gerada welcomed Maersk’s extended involvement in the Maltese market and viewed the development “as a vote of confidence in Malta Freeport and the Thomas Smith Group.”

“In our opinion, the continuous investment in Malta Freeport facilities was a major contributing factor in Maerk’s decision to transfer operations to Malta Freeport,” he said.

In its statement, the Malta Freeport said that the “positive accomplishment will generate a substantial amount of new business and will also provide a larger network of port connections from Malta.”

It added that only recently, A.P. Moller Maersk announced the setting up of Seago Line which will specialise in the intra-European trade and will also be calling at Malta Freeport through the Scanmed Service which links Turkey and Greece with North Europe and Scandinavia,

The Scanmed service will call both in the Northbound direction as well as Southbound.

Maersk Line will also perform further container transhipment operations at Malta Freeport through services that are jointly operated with CMA CGM, the Freeport added.

“These include the AE15 service which links the Med to the Middle East and Asia as well as the Westmed Service which links the Med to the U.S. East Coast. Feedering services will cover connections to the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, and Sicily.”

It said that the quality of service and state-of-the-art facilities offered by Malta Freeport were fundamental in order to secure the agreement.