A.P. Møller – Mærsk (Maersk) is a global integrated logistics company that needs no introduction. With offices spanning 130 countries and 100,000 employees across the globe, its logistical footprint can be seen worldwide as it continues to provide customers with efficient, reliable, and secure logistical solutions supported by its international network. A key area of development for Maersk is India, where the company has over 20 years of experience working with local and international customers to connect India’s businesses to the world.
Maersk has established a significant presence in India over the last 2 decades and remains committed to providing its customers across the country with innovative logistical solutions to continue to promote socio-economic growth through its international logistics network. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, with a large portion of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stemming from both domestic and international trade. Therefore, by working with vital suppliers on the ground to establish crucial logistics solutions, as well as taking advantage of Maersk’s international network, the company continues to play a vital role in India with shipping, terminal operations, logistics, crewing, and training provided across the country’s logistics sector.
What separates Maersk from its rivals is its commitment to ensure that no matter the cargo type, the company will provide an efficient and reliable solution to meet its customers’ needs consistently. In India, this can either be in the form of utilising the company’s existing regular service to 15 of the country’s main ports, or to its 45 acceptance depots inland. These operations are facilitated through the company’s 25 offices across key locations in the country. However, Maersk knows that every logistical need must be catered to the customer and the cargo requirements, therefore Maersk works closely with every customer to facilitate unique logistical solutions to meet every customer’s logistical and shipment needs.
An example of this is the development of the Cold Store Facility in Gujarat. In January this year, Maersk announced it had broken ground on a new Cold Store Facility at Mehsana, which would provide 260,000 square feet of temperature-controlled storage for frozen processed food items. The development of the Cold Store Facility extends the global companies’ Cold Chain Logistics footprint. The facility is being built exclusively for HyFun Foods and represents Maersk’s commitment to providing solutions to meet its customers’ needs. The customer will be able to store all its frozen cargo in one single shed cold store, rather than multiple smaller facilities. This works to help the customer reduce distribution waiting times and delays from multiple stores, and instead, Maersk is implementing an all-in-one facility which will make storage and distribution so much easier with an all-in-one unbroken cold chain logistics solution.
Within the Cold Store Facility, Maersk will provide a remote container management system that provides full visibility for its customers to see the temperature and other critical elements from within the facility to ensure the stability of the cold chain logistics. The facility, which is being built on the Fanidhar Mega Food Park, will, once completed, be one of India’s largest single-shed cold stores. The facility will become a vital part of HyFun Foods’ operations, which will support the existing infrastructure to ensure that cargo moves from the manufacturing facility through the transport network, to ports, customs clearance, and then ocean transportation to take cargo to its destination. The investment into the Cold Store Facility further extends the customer’s network of distribution and highlights the vital role Maersk continues to play across the country to establish greater logistics solutions across India.
Essential to Maersk’s operation across the globe are the local logistical players which Maersk works with to help facilitate its operations across its international network. In India, this is ever present with the use of leading multi-model logical infrastructure and service providers which work with Maersk to help deliver services such as warehousing, storage, and cargo handling. In India specifically, the railway network plays a large part in the logistics network, and so Maersk works with local logistics providers to create innovative and efficient logistics solutions to make the most of these existing infrastructure links.
A key example of Maersk’s collaboration with local logistics providers is with Pristine Logistics & Infraprojects Ltd., to develop the Mandi Gobindgarth Steel Hub solution (steel-door product (SD)). Mandi Gobindgarth is a hub for the steel industries in India, dealing with over 150 small to large-scale steel units. These units rely on high-melting scrap as their main raw material, and so Maersk and Pristine Logistics have worked together to develop an innovative import solution (SD product) which was rolled out in 2018. The CYSD (Container Yard Store Door) system was designed to handle 50 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) per week and following expansive growth, the system delivered more than 700 TEUs per week in 2023-2024.
This increased capacity has allowed the system to deliver results for nearly 150 satisfied customers. The main advantage of the Steel Hub Solution’s development is to provide an all-in-one solution to handle, transport, and import steel products in a more efficient and hassle-free way. This customer-tailored solution highlights both Maersk and Pristine Logistics’ commitment to meeting the unique needs of its customers to bring greater stability to supply chains, and subsequently provide greater financial security to trade in India.
In addition to working with essential logistical solutions and transport providers across India, Maersk also works with key governmental figures to bring greater investment opportunities to support inland development for logistics hubs, warehousing, and transportation services. In January, Maersk signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu. The MoU was signed at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024 and will enable both parties to explore strategic opportunities together to promote the growing trade industry in the region. Tamil Nadu is the third largest contributor to India’s GDP, and so the agreement outlines a clear roadmap to produce a conducive business ecosystem supported by both the government’s and Maersk’s policies and networks to make the region even more competitive. By developing the logistics and transport sector in Tamil Nadu, the two hope to encourage greater investment into the sector to future-proof the industry for the next generations.
As Maersk moves towards the future, it is looking to explore new investment opportunities to develop inland logistics hubs, continue to study customer needs for storage facilities, and continue to develop state-of-the-art solutions to make efficient supply chains in India and beyond. In terms of sustainability, Maersk is looking to implement electrification to its fleet in India as part of its MoU with the Government of Tamil Nadu. Maersk will invest in establishing a fleet of electric trucks which will ensure inland transportation becomes more sustainable and environmentally friendly for distribution.
With strategic partnerships, collaboration with vital local logistics and shipping companies and the development of unique and personalised logistic services, the company hopes to continue to enhance the supply chains of India on both a national and international scale in the future. As such a global heavyweight in the world of integrated logistics solutions, Maersk ensures that no matter the cargo, it will find solutions which meet its customers’ needs to take products from the manufacturing line to its end market. With an expansive global history, and a strong two decades of experience in India, Maersk continues to provide a successful and supportive network of logistical solutions to continue to grow trade in India, and the Maersk network even further across the globe.
