Maersk to split Middle East/Med/ECSA loop

   Maersk Line said Tuesday it will be making major adjustments to its Rumba service that connects the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East with the Mediterranean and the east coast of South America.
   From November, the Danish line will be splitting the existing Rumba rotation into two distinct loops – one a six-ship Med/East Coast South America loop it will jointly run with Mediterranean Shipping Co., and two, a new Med/Middle East-Indian Subcontinent loop.
   The new joint service with MSC will see the two carriers merge MSC’s existing Spain service with the Med-South America leg of the existing Rumba, creating a six-ship loop with a rotation of Gioia Tauro, Valencia, Algeciras, Pecem, Salvador, Paranagua, Itapoa, Imbituba, Santos, Las Palmas, Port Tangier, Algeciras, and Gioia Tauro.
   It’s not immediately clear how many ships each line will deploy, though ship size will be 6,000 TEUs.
   Meanwhile, Maersk will start a new loop, called ME4, to service the Middle East and Indian ports now served by the Rumba. The rotation of that service will be Jebel Ali, Nhava Sheva, Jeddah, Marsaxlokk, Algeciras, Port Tangiers, Genoa, Jeddah, and Jebel Ali. Ship size on the ME4 will be 4,500 TEUs.
   The new arrangement culls some Maersk calls in Spain, as well as in Rio, but adds new calls in Pecem, Salvador, and Imbituba. Maersk said the changes have been made “in view of the current trading conditions.” – Eric Johnson