Antwerp, Belgium: Thomas Eskesen, Global Head of Refrigerated Business for Maersk Line, will deliver a keynote speech at Cool Logistics 2011, taking place on 26-28 September in Antwerp.
The news follows the widely-publicised launch last month of Maersk’s manifesto for change by its chief executive, calling for radical changes in the way that ocean carriers and shippers do business.
Eskesen is responsible for Maersk Line’s worldwide temperature-controlled activities, covering commercial, operations, cargo care, innovation and business development. In his speech on 27 September, he will give the carrier’s thoughts on key trends in the global refrigerated container trades and discuss the specific implications of its change manifesto for shippers of chilled and frozen cargoes.
The Maersk manifesto urges the shipping industry to move away from a narrow transactional focus on freight rates and focus instead on improving service reliability, ease of doing business and environmental performance. According to the company, on average the shipping industry only delivers 50% of containers on time today, while booking a container can require up to 19 touch points between the shipper and carrier. It argues that the industry must do much better in both respects to take cost, waste and uncertainty out of international supply chains.
Subsequently, the world’s largest container carrier has announced that it will introduce load protection fees in a bid to reduce the number of customers failing to deliver cargo on time and to cut delayed shipments. Under the new system, shippers will pay a penalty for no-show containers, but will also be compensated for rolled boxes. For refrigerated cargoes, the load protection fee is understood to be in the region of $500 per container.
Cool Logistics 2011 is hosted by the Port of Antwerp. Sponsors include Hamburg Süd, Kuehne+Nagel, Nova Fresh Logistics, Foodcareplus, DP World, Fresh Park Venlo, Port of Rotterdam, Thermo King, Carrier Transicold, Daikin, Identec Solutions, Johnson Controls, Maersk Container Industri, Mark-IT and Purfresh. The conference is suppored by the Container Owners’ Association, Port of Hamburg Marketing, The Shippers’ Voice and Transfrigoroute International.
