MAERSK SEALAND RAISES WESTBOUND ATLANTIC RATES

MAERSK SEALAND RAISES WESTBOUND ATLANTIC RATES    Maersk Sealand said that it is increasing westbound freight rates on independent service contracts.
   “Maersk Sealand will immediately implement an increase of $500 per 40-foot container on all contracts where the agreed minimum quantity commitment has been met,” the Danish carrier said.
   The increases, applicable only to independent service contracts, are being introduced “on the back of the current strength of the Atlantic market,” Maersk Sealand said.
   The freight rate initiative by Maersk Sealand, a member of the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement, was taken independently of the TACA conference. Maersk Sealand’s increases are in addition to TACA’s $400-per-40-foot-container increase in tariff rates, due to become effective on Sept. 1.
   David Jeffries, general manager of TACA, said that rate changes of conference carriers concerning their independent service contracts are “up to them.” However, the conference tariff remains “a barometer of the trade as a whole,” he said.
   About 80 percent of transatlantic shipments move under independent service contracts, while TACA has retained only a few conference-wide service contracts.
   Other transatlantic carriers have recently been ending westbound service contracts with shippers when minimum cargo commitments have been reached, and are asking for higher rates, industry sources said.