Maersk pulls back on Middle East services as disruptions continue

Maersk, one of the world's biggest container shipping groups, said on Friday it has temporarily suspended two services linking the Middle East to Asia and Europe as the Iran conflict continues to disrupt global supply chains.

The Danish group said in a statement it would halt its FM1 service connecting the Far East to the Middle East and its ME11 service linking the Middle East to Europe.

"This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of our personnel and vessels while minimising operational disruption across our wider network," Maersk said in an advisory to customers.