DANISH Maersk Line, the world's largest carrier, has announced a second round of general rate increase on Asia-Europe trade by US$400 per TEU from April 1.

In late January Maersk Line and most of its competitors announced a steep rate increase on Asia-Europe trade by an average of $750 per TEU. And last week, Maersk announced it would remove nine per cent of its Asia-Europe capacity to boost flagging freight rates.

Nykredit Markets analyst Ricky Rasmussen told Danish daily Berlingske Tidende: "A week ago I would have said that it would be impossible for Maersk Line to make a profit in 2012. However, if they get this through, we have a completely different starting point for 2012 and 2013."