Maersk ship

Maersk Line has announced that it is implementing a general rate increase on services linking the Mediterranean and North Africa with Canada and the US, effective 1 October 2009.

The increase, which is US$300 per container, applies from all origins in the Mediterranean and North Africa to all destination points in the US and Canada, and applies to both dry and reefer cargo.

Maersk Line said that the trading conditions in the specific markets were currently subject to unacceptable rate levels, and that the situation had become unsustainable in the long term.

'The rate increase is necessary to continue to operate our services with the high level of reliability our customers have come to expect from Maersk Line,' the group said in a statement.