Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011

Re:	Mediterranean to USA Service changes affect port calls at Miami, Fos and Barcelona; Russia - St. Petersburg Port Congestion Surcharge

Alert - Mediterranean to USA Service Changes affect port calls at Miami, Fos sur Mer, and Barcelona.

Hapag Lloyd and Maersk Sealand have partnered on the Mediterranean to USA shipping corridor and as of March 2011 the UASC service has been replaced by two new shared services: WestMed and MGX. The service changes will affect shippers in the following ways:

• Miami - Port calls to Miami on the new WestMed service will be phased out during this month and replaced with Port Everglades. Both ports will be serviced in the interim period through the end of March (last call to Miami Port will be April 22, 2011). The MGX service calls at Port Everglades only.
  
  
• Fos sur Mer - Port calls on the WestMed service have been suspended due to heavy congestion at Fos sur Mer. Maersk has announced Fos port calls on the WestMed service will be reinstated as from March 14, 2011.
  
  
• Barcelona to New York - Direct service to New York from Barcelona will be limited to only the MGX service, all other services will transshipment in Valencia. Shippers can alternatively ship via Tarragona or Valencia (both have feeder options from Barcelona but will mean longer lead times).
  
  

For questions on the new routing changes or other shipping options from the Mediterranean contact your sales representative for information.

Russia - Port of St. Petersburg Emergency Congestion Surcharges Implemented

Due to terminal congestion resulting from extreme winter conditions at the port of St. Petersburg, ocean carriers are implementing a congestion surcharge on USA export shipments as follows:

• Maersk - USD 50 per TEU effective March 15, 2011
• MSC - USD 50 per container effective March 15, 2011
• Hapag - USD 100 per TEU effective April 2, 2011

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