Maersk Special Project Logistics navigates COVID-19 crisis response

Washington D.C. USA  – 22 June 2020 – Maersk Special Project Logistics (SPL) has assisted with the import of 53.3 million N95 facial masks from Asia to North America between April-May 2020. A total of 45 million N95 protective facial masks were delivered to Canadian healthcare service providers in Alberta, Canada and 8.3 million masks to a large, private healthcare provider in the USA. 

“This pandemic has created challenges in logistics as well as healthcare and we had to create new solutions to bring the necessary equipment to healthcare providers in NAM in record time” said Rob Townley, Head of Maersk SPL. “From the Asian factory to NAM healthcare facilities, we were able to create a direct logistics solution for this highly time sensitive material. Reliable supply chains enable hospitals to concentrate on their mission rather than on the increasingly complex logistics and manufacturing conditions surrounding PPE,” added Mr. Townley.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, Maersk SPL has partnered with healthcare providers and state hospitals in the US and Canada to enable major health systems to meet critical PPE supply needs. 

Since April 2020, the company delivered multiple full 747-400F and Antonov-124 air charters of PPE and other pandemic-related supplies to healthcare facilities in California and to the Government of Alberta, Canada using a factory-to-hospital direct model. This delivery is likely to be followed by further air charters on behalf of the Canadian government and major healthcare providers in the United States in the weeks ahead.

The company has also partnered with A.P. Moller Holding (the investment arm of the A.P. Moller Foundation that invests in and builds businesses with a positive impact in society) to offer an integrated sourcing, procurement and door-to-door delivery service for healthcare facilities enabling simplified supply chains with reduced risk.  The partnership is based on the 'Maersk Bridge' model executed in support of the Danish government, and is now being expanded to support US & Canadian healthcare systems as well as major NGOs (such as WorldVision) responding to the COVID-19 threat on a global scale. 

In North America, Maersk SPL is working to deliver PPE to the Maersk workforce at over 100 locations.  The SPL team has become a crucial component in Maersk’s own response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. SPL is also shipping ventilators via air from US manufacturers to African hospitals. 

Maersk SPL was established to take full advantage of Maersk’s global logistics network and to concentrate the company’s expertise in difficult and hazardous logistics markets. 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017-2018, Maersk SPL provided logistics services in support of the restoration of electrical power to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

In 2019, Maersk SPL was active in Hurricane Dorian relief operations in the Bahamas, supporting the efforts of UN Secretary General Guterres and delivering supplies to communities in need. 
Also in 2019, Maersk SPL was active in supporting Cyclone Idai relief efforts in Mozambique.

Earlier in 2018, Maersk SPL provided logistics support for The Ocean Cleanup – an ambitious effort to remove floating plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean.  

Maersk SPL is also A.P. Moller-Maersk’s representative to the Logistics Emergency Team (LET) – a global partnership of leading logistics companies providing emergency support to governments, humanitarian aid agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

With teams in North Carolina, Texas, Washington DC, The Netherlands, Bahrain and Denmark, the Maersk SPL team is an integral part of the Maersk organization, designed to serve very specific, unique and complex, end-to-end logistics solutions. 

Head of SPL, Robin Townley, has experience within the intelligence, humanitarian assistance, developmental aid and military special operations communities in the U.S. government, where he has spent the majority of his career. Prior to joining, he was the Senior Director for African Affairs on the US National Security Council. Mr. Townley also served as the COO of Doc2Doc Foundation, an organization supporting a network of U.S. hospitals and logistics providers to procure, store and ship surplus medical supplies and equipment to underserved nations.