By Dan McCue
Staff Writer

Maersk Line, the world’ largest ocean carrier and the Port of Charleston’s largest customer, is closing its customer service center located at 546 Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant and offering its 140 customer service employees the option of relocating to other, out-of-state facilities.

Their options are a new East Coast Customer Service Center that will be located in Charlotte, N.C., or an existing service center in Houston, Texas.

The move is being made to enhance internal efficiencies at the company and to improve its overall profitability, according to a statement released by the company Tuesday afternoon.

Other A.P. Moller-Maersk business activities in the Charleston area, including Maersk Distribution, Bridge Terminal Transport and APM Terminals, will not be affected by the organizational changes.

“While this announcement doesn't impact cargo volume at the port, it's unfortunate news for a lot of families who call the Charleston area home,” said Byron Miller, SPA public relations director. “As these jobs leave the area, it's certainly an impact on the community and the area economy.”

The move is part of a larger consolidation of Maersk’s North American sales and customer service staff from six regional offices into five by the end of August, according to Mary Ann Kotlarich, a company spokeswoman.

Employees were only told of the customer service center’s closure early Tuesday, and as a result, it’s unclear how many of the employees will take Maersk’s offer to work in another city, Kotlarich said.

“Like anything, there are a lot of factors that will go into individual decisions. In some cases, situations involving spouses and children might make them decide they need to stay in Charleston,” she said.

In January, the company announced a new global streamLINE strategy, which called for the decentralization of its management into smaller regional teams, the reduction of its overall work force of 3,000 workers by about 10%, and splitting its container operations into three divisions.

While an 11% reduction in container volume at the Port of Charleston in 2007 may have been a factor in the company’s decision to close its local customer service center, “it was, in fact, a very, very small factor,” Kotlarich said.

Under the consolidation plan, one new customer service center will be established and three customer service centers will be relocated. Sales administrative support activities at four offices in the west and central regions will be consolidated in one office.

“Customers will continue to experience sales and customer service staff who are empowered, responsive and focused on same-day resolution of customer issues, said Bill Woodhour, Maersk’s head of North American sales.

Customers can expect to be served by the same sales person they interact with now, he said.

Even with Maersk’s decision, Charleston’s port continues to be a strong place to do business, Miller said.

“While technology allows many back-office, customer support and service functions to be located anywhere, Charleston remains a favorable place to do business, for both maritime and corporate operations,” he said.