Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Re:	Demurrage charges at Fos sur Mer, Genoa update, GRIs in Sept

France: Demurrage charges accrue at Fos sur Mer due to strike action

Since July 5, 2010 the ongoing strike action by dockworkers' unions at Fos sur Mer has resulted in port terminal congestion, cancelled vessel calls, carrier congestion charges, and now demurrage charges for export and import containers as they exceed the allotted free time for storage at the port.

Demurrage charges:

Contractual free time for containers at the port varies by carrier but ranges from 7 to 15 days for dry containers, and 2 to 6 days for reefer. Free time is measured in calendar days; from the date the container is accepted at the terminal to the last day which is the day it sails. Demurrage fees may range from EUR 15 to EUR 125 depending on equipment type and duration at the pier. Due to the length of the strike action demurrage charges are beginning to accrue on export containers that have not been able to sail on schedule.

Congestion Charges:

Congestion charges by the carriers have been announced earlier as well, below is a recap of the charges by carrier and the effective date:

• Maersk will apply a congestion surcharge of USD 150 per TEU effective August 5th
  
  
• CMA-CGM will apply a congestion surcharge of USD 75 per TEU effective August 20th
  
  
• ZIM Lines will apply a congestion surcharge of USD 45 per TEU effective August 26th
  
  
• USAC will apply a congestion surcharge of USD 75 per TEU effective August 28th

We will continue provide updates on further developments. For status on any pending orders check with your operations representative at 732-388-0101 or login to AXIS for further detail.

Italy: Genoa Strike Update

The strike action at Genoa port (8 hours on Monday August 9th followed by two hours per day for the remainder of the week) is having only a minimal impact on shipping. ZIM lines has cancelled one vessel call due to the strike action, but Hapag and Maersk continue to monitor the situation and have not announced any vessel changes due to the strike action. We will continue to update as more information becomes available.

North Atlantic Capacity Remains Tight, GRIs Expected September 1st, 2010:

Capacity on the North Atlantic trade remains tight moving into the third quarter of 2010 as carriers have been maximizing on the reduced space available to return to profitability after suffering huge losses in 2009. Weekly TEU capacity on the trade has not increased in 2010 and remains at 28% below weekly capacity over the prior year.

The result has been longer lead times for booking containers as well as another round of General Rate Increases (GRIs) expected on the trade September 1st, 2010. We will continue to monitor the situation and mitigate the impact of the rate increases whenever possible while maintaining space commitments from the carriers. For more information on the impact to your shipping needs, please contact your sales representative directly.