Maersk Sealand revises U.S./Middle East/India service

Maersk Sealand revises U.S./Middle East/India service    Maersk Sealand is altering its U.S./Middle East/India and U.S./Mediterranean services.
   The “Middle East Container Line” weekly service will omit calls at Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Gioia Tauro, Italy, from next month. A spokesman for Maersk Sealand said that this means the transit times from the Middle East and India to the U.S. East Coast will be reduced.
   The service will also start calling at Jebel Ali in Dubai, and make eastbound calls at Algeciras, while stopping westbound calls at Algeciras.
   The first voyage with the revised rotation for the “MECL” service will be made by the vessel “Greenwich Maersk” when it departs from Charleston on Feb. 14.
   The “MECL” service will retain the existing seven ships averaging 4,227 TEUs, and will have a revised port rotation of Charleston, Norfolk, New York, Algeciras, Jeddah, Salalah, Jebel Ali, Nhava Sheva, Salalah, Charleston, Norfolk and New York.
   The carriers Safmarine Container Lines, P&O Nedlloyd Container Line, APL, Evergreen and Hapag-Lloyd all take space on various sections of the “MECL” service.
   Meanwhile, Maersk Sealand’s “Mediterranean Express” service will pick up the MECL’s former call at Halifax, and will stop calling at Charleston. The service will have a revised North American rotation of Halifax, New York and Norfolk, before the ships proceed to Leghorn, Gioia Tauro and Algeciras.