Nearly a year after announcing it would be pulling out of Charleston, citing cost disadvantages, the Maersk shipping line is changing course, signing a deal with the S.C. State Ports Authority that will keep it calling on Charleston through 2014.

Maersk, the world’s largest shipping line, has long been the Port of Charleston's largest customer, accounting for about 20% of its container business.

Under the agreement, Maersk will remain a licensed user on the Wando Welch Terminal, but will occupy a smaller footprint, according to Dana Magloila, a spokesman for the shipping line.

“At this point, I cannot provide further details on the size of our footprint, but it will be, by comparison to our current portion, smaller,” Maglolia said. “Nor can I provide you with specifics on our cost structure, only to confirm that this provides us with costs to operate in Charleston similar to those faced by other carriers, thus competitive.

“Maersk Line will maintain a competitive position within the Port of Charleston,” Magliola added. “This will allow us to continue to provide a reliable service for our valued customers in South Carolina, a benefit to the economy both in Charleston and throughout South Carolina.”

Maersk announced last December that it was pulling its service to Charleston after three local chapter of the International Longshoreman’s Association voted against a proposal floated by the shipping line that would have moved its operations from a union section of the pier to one staffed by state ports authority personnel. The ILA maintained the move to the ports authority’s common-user gate would have been ruinous for union employees, and violated the longshoreman’s longstanding contract with the shipping line.

Magliola said the new commitment to stay in Charleston is not an indication that the union situation has changed.

“We'll continue to operate under the ILA master contract as before,” Magliola said.

Prior to announcing its plans to leave Charleston, Maersk was calling on the Port of Charleston about seven times a week. Last Spring, that number dropped to five, with calls being shifted to Savannah, Ga., Wilmington, N.C. and Norfolk, Va. None of those services is currently slated to return to Charleston.

“This will allow us to maintain our current calls in Charleston,” Magliola said. “These are the AMEX, which is a direct service from the US East coast to Sub-Saharan Africa. The Trans-Atlantic 1, which offers full US East coast coverage with service to Northern Europe. The Trans-Atlantic 2, which is made up of US-flagged vessels with weekly service from the US East coast and Gulf to Northern Europe. The Trans-Pacific 7, which provides access to US East and West coasts with service to North Asia. And finally, the MECL 1, which is also a US-flagged string with US East coast coverage to main ports in the Middle East and the Subcontinent.”

“This agreement will allow us to better serve our customers utilizing the Port of Charleston as both an import and export gateway,” Magliola added. “This does not impact our service to other regional ports, but is simply an agreement with the S.C. State Ports Authority.”

While Maersk’s recommitment to Charleston is sure to grab headlines locally, it was not entirely unexpected. Last week, the shipping line announced revisions to its trans-Atlantic network, including the removal of one trans-Atlantic service and the minor expansion of two others.

Soren Castbak, senior director of Atlantic Services for Maersk Line, said the move was made to eliminate excess capacity between Europe and North America. Under the new arrangement, both of Maersk’s remaining Trans-Atlantic services include ongoing calls at the Port of Charleston.