A.P. Moller - Maersk (Maersk) has announced the signing of an international freight supply chain management partnership with Unilever effective from 2022.

In a statement, it said the four-year agreement will see the development and management of Unilever’s International Control Tower Solution – an operational management solution which will consolidate the execution of its global ocean and air transport, with the aim of enhancing visibility, increasing efficiency and driving reductions in emissions across its operations.

Maersk said it will be providing operational management of international ocean and air transport, underpinned by Maersk's digital supply chain platform NeoNav, which serves as a core part of the agreement.

As a part of the partnership, Maersk noted that with its experience in logistics, data insights and NeoNav management platform will bring further resilience, agility and end-to-end visibility to Unilever's supply chain, which covers more than 190 countries around the world.

"We are excited that Unilever has chosen our logistics expertise and our technological platform NeoNav to provide an overview of the links that make up its ocean and air logistics operations. At the same time NeoNav also offers actionable insights on how to optimize the supply chain, for example in terms of carbon emissions," said Aymeric Chandavoine, head of Logistics & Services at A.P. Moller - Maersk.

"We're delighted to be working with Maersk to unify our global ocean and air logistics operations. Not only does this end-to-end approach ensure better service for our customers and reduce business waste, the added visibility will also help us mitigate risk, increase agility, and help us achieve our company wide target of becoming carbon neutral by 2039," added Michelle Grose, VP Global Logistics and Fulfilment at Unilever.

The value of the partnership, however, has not been disclosed.