Maersk Shipping Line and China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) have signed a sharing agreement to expand their network in East Africa, a local media reported. China Ocean Shipping Company is the third largest shipping company in the world.
Last month, both leading shipping companies signed the deal. The new deal will turn out to be favourable to the Port of Mombasa as it will be directly connected to the Port of Shanghai.
More recently, Maersk joined the Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) programme to build accuracy of weather forecasting for mariners. Aslak Ross, head of marine standards at Maersk, told the media, “As a global container logistics company, our vessels form a vital role in keeping supply chains moving safely and timely. Helping weather forecasting and climate science advance makes great sense to us, since both of these areas affect our operations.”
Typically, VOS-enabled ships would record and transmit observations manually. It is reported that the five five Maersk vessels that participated in the programme had more advanced automated weather station (AWS) to automatically collect data on atmospheric pressure. The company is expected to have 50 of its ships equipped with AWSs, making it the single largest shipping firm in the world to use this system.