Maersk Line makes changes in Mideast services

Maersk Line on July 17 announced it would change the schedule of two of its services between the United States and the Middle East, and eliminate a third service.

Two of its weekly Middle East services, the eastbound MECL 1 and westbound MECL 2 services, will start calling at Port Said in Egypt as of Aug. 1, which will enable the carrier to adjust capacity by phasing out its East Med service during the fourth quarter.

The Danish shipping line said the two services will call at the terminal operated by its APM Terminals unit, which is a transshipment center for the region.

Maaersk said the calls at Said would provide connections to Izmir, Haifa, and other East Mediterranean ports via its own feeder network, minimizing any impact of port congestion.

It said the changes would provide improved schedule reliability and faster transshipment services in selected corridors, such as 14 days from Haifa to Savannah.

The first MECL 1 departure from the U.S. East Coast to Port Said will be the Maersk Missouri, which departs from Port Newark on Aug. 28 and Charleston on Sept. 1.

The first MECL 2 departure from Port Said to North America will be the Maersk Daesan on Aug. 2.