Maersk Line, the world’s largest shipping line which last year chose to shift its central Mediterranean hub port from Gioia Tauro to Malta Freeport Terminals, has introduced several new regular services calling at the Freeport.

These include the mainline services AE20 and the Aegean Sea service, and feeder services L28 and L45.

The mainline service AE20 is now calling eastbound between Asia and Europe weekly.

This service already calls at Malta Freeport westbound, also on a weekly basis; 10 vessels with a maximum carrying capacity of 9,600 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) are deployed on this service.

The ports of call are Valencia, Malaga, Algeciras, Malta Freeport, Port Said, Port Klang, Singapore, Xiamen, Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, and Nansha New Port.

The Aegean Sea service is operated by Seago Line, a liner company which began handling the intra-European container activities on behalf of the Maersk Group last year.

In northern Europe, the Aegean Sea service is covering the main markets and offers connections from Felixstowe, Bremerhaven and Antwerp.

The addition of the weekly connection from the port of Felixstowe will be welcomed by the local entrepreneurs as this connection offers a transit time of just 10 days from Felixstowe to Malta Freeport. This service also offers comprehensive coverage of ports in Turkey and connections to Piraeus and Valencia.

The Aegean service’s ports of call are Felixstowe, Bremenhaven, Antwerp, Malta Freeport, Piraeus, Gebze, Ambarli, Gemlik, Izmir, and Valencia.

Seago Line is also using the Freeport’s facilities regularly for two feeder services, the L28 service and the L45 service. These two services have strengthened Malta Freeport’s connections with the Libyan market which is now being served by an increasing number of carriers.

The L28 service offers a shuttle service to Benghazi from Malta Freeport.

The L45 service provides several port connections in Libya and Tunisia: its itinerary begins at Malta Freeport, calling at Sfax, Misurata, El Khoms, before returning to Malta Freeport.

Maersk Line is the core liner shipping activity of the A.P. Moller of the Maersk Group, and the leading container shipping company in the world.

The Maersk Line fleet comprises more than 500 vessels and a number of containers corresponding to more than 1.9 million TEUs, offering reliable and comprehensive coverage worldwide.

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

Maersk Line and Seago Line are represented in Malta by Thomas Smith Group of Valletta.