Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas teams up with shipping giant Maersk to combat transport difficulties

Vestas has signed a long-term agreement with shipping giant Maersk to partner on all containerised transport as it looks to mitigate logistics challenges.

The agreement covers door-to-door transport from Vestas’s suppliers to its factories and service warehouses, as well as containerised site parts and transport equipment and all airfreight shipments.

Containerised transport is the international shipping practice of storing a number of pieces of freight within a large container and transporting them as a single unit.

The agreement does not include non-containerised road transport and outbound transport, which will be managed through existing agreements with Danish logistics firm DSV and other partners.

Vestas’s partnership with Maersk is effective from 1 January 2022. It is unclear how long the agreement is set to last.

The deal does not exclude other manufacturers from dealing with Maersk.

Instead, it means that the Danish turbine manufacturer will get direct access to container capacity at a fixed price, which would otherwise be hard to secure in the current environment, Vestas explained. It should therefore ensure business continuity and cost predictability.

Vestas also suggested that the partnership presented an opportunity for the two companies to co-develop a joint sustainability strategy.

In its third-quarter results, Vestas had explained that warranty provision from transportation – and other factors – had squeezed its profits. Other turbine manufacturers have also reported challenges with transportation and supply chain volatility in recent months.

Tommy Rahbek Nielsen, Vestas’s chief operating officer, said: “By partnering with Maersk, we can further accelerate the deployment of wind energy and protect profitability, while working together on developing solutions that can make our supply chain more sustainable.”