Charleston to make pitch to Maersk

Charleston to make pitch to Maersk The South Carolina State Ports Authority is expected to make a pitch this week to convince Maersk Line to keep at least some of its ships calling at Charleston.
   The Post and Courier newspaper and other media outlets report that the agency and members of the International Longshoremen’s Association met last week with Maersk’s sister company APM Terminals and came up with a plan that would reduce Maersk’s operating costs.
   Maersk said last year it planned to drop all seven of its port calls in Charleston by the end of 2010 and has already announced three of seven services will call at other ports. Maersk said at that time it was paying more than some other carriers in the port that called common-user facilities.
   The proposal still needs to be finalized, but reportedly would let the carrier use less equipment and yard space so that it can avoid “shortfall” fees that it had been paying.