MAERSK AND SCL RESTRUCTURE EUROPE/WEST AFRICA SERVICES

   Maersk Line and sister company Safmarine Container Lines have restructured five joint weekly services between Europe and West Africa.
   The carriers have revised the rotation of their "Maxi" service between northern Europe and West Africa. The six-ship service now includes calls at Algeciras, the Mediterranean container hub of Maersk, to connect with other services.
   The "Elisa" service to West and South Africa, which employs four ships sailing at fortnightly intervals, no longer calls at northern European ports and also uses Algeciras as a transshipment point. The amended rotation is Leixoes, Vigo, Lisbon, Algeciras, Dakar, Abidjan, Luanda, Durban, Cape Town, Walvis Bay, Luanda, Pointe Noire, Cotonou, Abidjan, San Pedro and Algeciras.
   Two other services between Algeciras and West African ports have been combined into one weekly service on that route.
   The change represent a further integration of the SCL and Maersk services, with an emphasis on the Algeciras transshipment operation.
Maersk and SCL also operate a multipurpose "combo" service between northern Europe and West Africa, and a "Med C String" service connecting Mediterranean ports, Algeciras and West African ports.
   Following the takeover of SCL by the A.P. Moller group in February 1999, the Maersk/SCL group is one of the two largest liner operators in the West African trades. The other major competitor is the Bollore group, which includes the shipping lines Delmas and OT Africa Line.