MAERSK has announced a number of scheduled port calls for Maersk Shekou will be cancelled, with the vessel reportedly planned to go to dry dock.  

The shipping line announced yesterday (10 September) that Maersk Shekou’s entire Greater Australia Connect (GAC) 435S/438N voyage, which was to follow directly from the conclusion of its current 428S/431N voyage, will be blanked.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after Maersk Shekou was involved in an allision with STS Leeuwin II in Fremantle Harbour, the vessel having undergone repairs during a six-day port stay following the incident.

ANL & CMA CGM Group yesterday relayed an announcement regarding the service route cancellation, listing the reason for the omission as due to Maersk Shekou going into dry dock.

Notably, Maersk’s announcement has made no mention yet of the vessel’s apparent dry dock plans, instead stating the cancellation is due to the delayed arrival expected for the ship at the south-east Asia hub ports.

Maersk’s latest announcement follows from its 2 September announcement regarding the omission of the planned Sydney call for the next scheduled GAC service to assist with schedule recovery.

Maersk said that oceania imports planned to load for Maersk Shekou 435S will be updated to the next GAC service, sailing Maersk Semakau 437S.

Further, exports originating/loading in Melbourne will be updated to load CMA CGM TANCREDI 439N, while exports originating/loading in Adelaide and Fremantle will be updated to load SYDNEY EXPRESS 437N.

Maersk Shekou is currently expected to arrive in Port Klang, Malaysia on 13 September. Maersk’s website schedule shows Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia) and Singapore as expected port calls following Port Klang, the website listing her next immediate port call after those as Port Klang in mid-October.

The exact nature of both the damage and repairs to Maersk Shekou relating to the Fremantle allision are currently unknown, as authorities including the ATSB and Fremantle Ports have yet to release the findings of their respective investigations.