PSA rebuts Danish firm's complaint of poor service

PSA rebuts Danish firm's complaint of poor service

SINGAPORE (DPA): PSA Corporation defended on Saturday the quality of its service as "appropriate" and "professional", responding to criticism from the Danish firm Maersk-Sealand.

Maersk, among the world's largest container lines, confirmed Tuesday it was shifting its New Zealand feeder hub service from Singapore to Hong Kong and Taiwan because of what the Danish line described as a significant reduction in service level and co- operation from PSA.

Morten Lokkegaard, Maersk general manager for Europe services, marketing and e-commerce, had been quoted as citing "intolerable delays in our operations in Singapore right now."

In a letter published in The Business Times, Wong Fong Tze, PSA's vice president for public relations, said Maersk should expect less service because it lost its port priority after it prematurely terminated a 10-year agreement it had with PSA.

That agreement guaranteed Maersk top range of services at the best rates in return for a certain amount of container volume.

Wong said PSA "allocated the berths previously used for Maersk to various other priority customers so that we can optimize our berth utilization."

"It is unrealistic to expect service levels for a 'walk-in' customer who chooses not to make any commitment at all to be the same as those accorded to a top priority customer with large volumes and long-term commitments," Wong added.

Since the last quarter of the year is traditionally marked by high demand for berths, PSA said, "Non-priority customers therefore have to wait in the anchorages for berths to become available."

Maersk stunned the industry in mid-August when it announced it had taken a 30 percent stake in Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and would be shifting the bulk of its containerized cargo to that port.