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.