Maersk stays open for business in Sri Lanka midst COVID-19 crisis

• Strengthens customer experience through digital solutions to keep supply chains moving

In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Maersk, the integrated container logistics company, is taking all necessary measures to keep its employees safe and its customers’ supply chains moving with minimum disruptions. Maersk Lanka has ensured all its office-based employees work remotely with access to adequate IT infrastructure. 

The company is also urging its customers to make full use of their online platforms in the interest of ensuring safety for all. By leveraging pre-existing high impact digital platforms, Maersk Lanka seeks to serve its customers smoothly during these times. 

Over the last few years, Maersk has increasingly invested in its digital platforms to find new ways to simplify container transport, cut down on turnaround time, reduce costs and boost transparency for its customers worldwide. 

Sri Lanka is currently under curfew to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Government has deemed the logistics sector to be an essential service that needs to be kept running. To keep customers’ supply chains running, Maersk Lanka is offering a host of digital solutions to its customers. 

Maersk Lanka’s online platforms, starting with its website Maersk.com, along with products such as Maersk Spot, Twill, Captain Peter and others are available for customers, with which they can easily get online quotes, make instant online bookings, move goods across land and sea by truck, train or ship with guarantee and get full visibility of their cargo’s journey. 

Maersk Lanka Country Manager Siddharth Iyer said: “Safety of our employees, their families and our customers is of utmost priority for us. We have been practicing working from home with all our office-based employees to the widest extent possible. Our customer experience and service teams, through the readily-available plethora of digital platforms, are ensuring our customers’ cargo keeps moving even as they work from home.” 

He added: “We are in the business of moving goods, and especially during crisis, it is crucial that we keep our customers’ cargo moving which could also include crisis-essential goods. To facilitate this, Maersk Lanka has pioneered several digital solutions for its customers in Sri Lanka and supported them with convenient solutions that ensure social distancing in these times.” 

Maersk Lanka has enabled its customers to pay digitally instead of physically visiting counters for payment. Maersk is one of the first logistics import and export partners in the country to release all necessary documents digitally, thus ensuring human interaction is minimised or negated. Not only are these facilities ensuring social distancing but also facilitating eco-friendly paperless transactions, saving time and creating an easy experience for the customers. 

Eswaran Brothers Exports Vice Chairman Subramaniam Eassuwaren said: “Maersk has always been a preferred container logistics partner for us. However, with onset of the current crisis, the company’s vision for digitisation has really shown through. Having managed to simplify and digitalise most of the processes, combined with their commitment even during such testing times, has ensured that we are able to move our goods with minimum disruptions.”