Business as usual for Saecs as Safdal partnership ends

LAST WEEK’S announcement by Safmarine and DAL Deutsche Afrika Linien of the termination of their Safdal Joint Venture ends an 11-year old partnership. Effective from October 31, 2008, both lines will continue to be members of the SA-Europe Container Service (Saecs) vessel sharing agreement but will market their own brands and be represented in all European and southern African countries by their own agency organisations. Questioned on whether this decision was related to the repeal of EU4056/86 legislation, which from the end of October puts an end to block exemption for liner shipping conferences from fixing prices and regulating capacities, the lines told FTW in a joint statement: “Both lines comply with existing legislation under the current joint venture. “Effective November 1, marketing joint co-operation will cease. However both lines will continue to comply with their obligations as independent VSA members of Saecs.” Technical and operational co-operation will however continue to exist within their obligations as members of Saecs, a joint statement added. DAL will have its own separate agencies in southern African and European countries while the existing Safmarine agencies in Germany and Denmark will now represent Safmarine. The changed relationship will however have no impact on the four members of Saecs – they will all market their own brands and will be represented in all European and southern African countries by their own agency organisations. While both lines will maintain business as usual with the joint venture, from November 1 customers will have the choice of shipping with either carrier in addition to other existing options. In the case of multi-carrier agreements like Daimler, both lines will be entitled to their share. The service profile of Saecs will not change and DAL will continue to provide equipment for and have access to the Safmarine/Maersk equipment pool. There will also be no change in the number of slots in the combined allocation of Safmarine and DAL. In terms of pricing, this will be handled through the lines’ own trade departments – rates quoted by Safdal beyond October 31 will remain valid as will all terms and conditions. For claims cases related to the EUR/SAF corridor, individual claims will continue to be handled by each member line separately.