Maersk Line will further reduce its U.S. footprint in mid-August by withdrawing from the U.S. East Coast/East Coast of South America trade.

The Danish carrier said today it will cease its slot charter agreement with Hamburg S&d on a service marketed by Maersk as NASA, effective Aug. 17.

"The decision has been made based on the unprofitable cargo volumes in the trade and as a consequence of Maersk Line's ongoing efforts to optimize its network," the Copenhagen-based company said in a statement.

Maersk joined the Hamburg S&d service in April of last year when it ended its own U.S. East Coast/Brazil loop -- also known as NASA -- that had used five vessels of about 2,500 TEUs.

The Hamburg S&d service deploys six ships of 3,739 TEUs calling New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charleston, Jacksonville, Port Everglades, Puerto Cabello, Suape, Santos, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio Grande, Santos, Suape, Pecem, and back to New York. Other carriers sharing space on the service include Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV), its subsidiary Libra, Evergreen Line, and Hamburg S&d's affiliate Alianca.

Maersk's defection from the trade is consistent with its low to no-growth outlook for all the U.S. trades in 2008, and follows its drastic reduction in transpacific tonnage and U.S. inland options that began at the end of 2006 and start of 2007. Another trade in which Maersk is scaling back is U.S./Australasia, in which it will merge operations with Hamburg S&d at the end of May.