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Maersk Line has announced that the general rate increase on the North America to Mediterranean and North Africa trade which it previously announced for 15 June 2009 will now be effective 1 July 2009.

The Danish shipping line said it had decided to delay the increase to coincide with the change in the Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF), also scheduled for 1 July 2009.

"By combining the rate increase and the BAF into a single event, we simplify tariff and contract maintenance, reducing complexity for our customers," Maersk Line said in a statement.

The new amounts of the BAF surcharge will be communicated separately.

According to the company's BAF roll-out schedule, services to and from Asia/Middle East, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka will be subject to a new BAF tariff on July 1st.

For further information regarding Maersk's BAF formula and online calculator, please visit http://baf.maerskline.com or www.maerskline.com/baf.

The online calculator uses a formula developed by Maersk Line to calculate the BAF for any given trade. The user simply selects the load and discharge country and the container type. The BAF Calculator then works out the bunker charge in USD per unit for each container type.

The website also includes an online simulator so users can see how the BAF will fluctuate according to changes in the bunker price.