A.P. Moller–Maersk has successfully undertaken its first multimodal sea-air solution via Oman. The sea-air solution was a shipment of retail and lifestyle cargo from Colombo in Sri Lanka to Cairo in Egypt. This will also help Indian cargo, which is sent in large volume through the transshipment port of Colombo.

Oman is increasingly becoming an important hub for logistics, owing to the strategic location of its seaports and airports and a strong presence of network catering to customers regionally and globally. The multimodal solution via Oman offers agility and resilience to Maersk’s customers’ supply chains by giving access to a priority product balancing between market demand, product safety, transit time and cost.

Benefits

The sea-air solution has several benefits for Maersk’s customers. It can help reduce transit times on traditional east-to-west trade routes by 20-40 per cent compared to pure ocean transportation and generate a cost saving of 10-20 per cent compared to pure air freight solutions, the shipping line said in a trade advisory.

Christopher Cook, Managing Director, Maersk UAE, Oman and Qatar said, “Shipment from Colombo to Cairo was the first leg of transportation carried out on a Maersk vessel from Colombo to Salalah. From the Port of Salalah, the cargo was discharged and transported to Salalah Airport under a customs-bonded corridor. On arrival at the cargo terminal at Salalah Airport, the shipment underwent security clearance and was air freighted on priority to Cairo, Egypt.”

The line has also undertaken a similar sea-air mode to Dubai, said a company official.

In conjunction with the rest of our integrated logistics solutions, the line can offer our customers a customised logistics solution combining different modes of transport, storage and fulfilment solutions and top them up with value-added services powered by technology. This is a true example of making supply chains resilient for our customers through integrated logistics solutions, Cook said.

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