Maersk Line, part of the Danish group A.P. Moller - Maersk, will provide free ocean freight for 147 containers (3,525 metric tons) of rice donated by the Government of Thailand to Haiti through the World Food Program.
The rice will be split and shipped across four sailings, from Laem Chabang, Thailand to Caucedo, Dominican Republic, before being trucked into Haiti. The first shipment set sail on 15 March 2010, on Maersk Line vessel Maersk Kendal, and is expected to arrive six weeks later towards the end of April.
Thomas L. Sorensen, Managing Director of the Maersk Line (Thailand) Co., Ltd, shares, “Maersk Line has a long history of providing disaster relief aid and is pleased to be able to continue in our efforts and support the World Food Programme. Shipping transportation plays an important role in getting aid to Haiti, being an island country. With a large global network and ready vessels, Maersk Line is more than able to handle the logistics involved with the shipment of Thai rice.”
“It is also one of Maersk Line’s key business values is to contribute towards the societies we work in and we hope our assistance will help Haiti, as its people work to rebuild their communities”, he continued.
In addition to the shipment of rice donated by the Government of Thailand, Maersk Line has shipped 100 containers of aid to Haiti from Venice, Italy. Maersk Line also donated dry containers and reefers on site in Port au Prince and Caucedo for storage purposes.
The A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, very early after the earthquake struck, extended services like water shipment, waiver of fees, provision of equipments and the offer of air freight to the United Nations, though not all have been realized. It also coordinated a global fund collection effort, in collaboration with the Danish Red Cross Society, to aid the victims. The Group has matched the employee donations dollar-for-dollar and as of today, approximately $360,000 has been donated to Haiti.
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