Maersk Line trims bunker charges on lower oil prices

Maersk Line will this week apply its revised bunker surcharges on all trade from the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, including Bangladesh, and the Red Sea to East Africa. The surcharges will be $415 (Dh1,523) per TEU and $830 per FEU and will be applicable starting November 1, said the Danish operator. Maersk Line lowered the bunker surcharges after it had increased them earlier due to high oil prices. The new surcharges have been revised down from $475 and $950 levied earlier.

The operator said it will also implement a similar reduction for the trade from the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, including Bangladesh, and the Red Sea to West Africa this week.

The revised surcharges will be $745 per TEU and $1,490 per FEU compared with $845 and $1,690 imposed earlier.

Maersk Line, meanwhile, announced a series of adjustments to its Asia-Europe network that will see a temporary suspension of its AE8 service as of week 46 in November 2008.

Thereby we adjust our Asia-Northern Europe capacity to match current demand levels and remove 7,600 TEU per week from our network, link our AE1 and AE10 services to accommodate AE8 port calls without loss of service connections," said the carrier. It will also adjust its Asia- Mediterranean services – AE3, AE6 and AE11 – to widen its range of direct port combinations between Asia and the Mediterranean.

The changes are made in light of the challenging market conditions.

The current Asia-Europe market is characterised by unsustainable rate levels. The changes will support our market position and ensure our network is sustainable in the long term. Thereby we can continue to offer our customers an extensive and reliable network in the Asia-Europe trade, said Robert Kledal, Vice- President and Head of Product Management for Maersk Line.

The temporary suspension of the AE8 service is in line with network adjustments carried out earlier in the year by the operator.