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GLOBAL
freight forwarder Damco said the launch of its Singapore
hub earlier this month will help Philippine shippers
because of shorter cargo transit time and increased
sailing frequencies.
In an
e-mail message, Damco said transit time was shortened to
five days from 14 days to the final destination within
Asia.
“Today,
with the increased connectivity, it only takes, for
example, five days for cargo from the
Singapore
hub to reach Manila,” said Jens Wessel, head of Damco
for Asia-Pacific, in response to the BusinessMirror’s
queries on how the Singapore hub would help shippers
from the Philippines.
“In
addition, all the cargo passing through the hub stays
within a controlled environment and Damco will work hard
to ensure that transit times are consistently met so
that customers are assured [of] reliable service,” he
added.
Damco’s
new less-than-container-load hub, which has been in
operation since the start of April, will now have more
sailing frequencies and locations served, as well as
reduced transit times and more cost-competitive
offerings, the company said.
It said
that frequency of sailings would increase, on average,
from one per week per destination to two or three
sailings per week per destination, for most
destinations. There is also likely to be up to seven
times as many sailings-destination choices as there was
previously, the company said.
Its
intra-Asia hub in
Singapore
offers services from 80 countries of origin worldwide to
more than 288 destinations throughout Asia.
The main
origin countries, however, are still from the US and
Europe. The less-than-container-load cargo is then
collected at the hub in Singapore before being routed to
final destinations throughout the intra-Asia region.
Damco,
which is part of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, works
with all major ocean carriers and airlines, as well as
local land-service providers such as trucking and
customs brokers and a range of global and local service
providers.
The
company was result of the merger between Dutch
freight-forwarding company Damco Sea & Air and the
forwarding activities of Denmark-based DSL Star Express.
Established in 1988, Damco Sea & Air was P&O Nedlloyd’s
forwarding arm.
In 2005
the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group acquired Damco Sea & Air
with the acquisition of P&O Nedlloyd. Since 2001 Maersk
Logistics has been providing ocean freight-forwarding
services in addition to its supply-chain management
services. |
