Maersk Sealand, part of Danish A.P. Moeller shipping and oil group, expects container rates to rise on the world`s main routes despite an economic slowdown in the U.S. "We are talking about increasing container rates by $525 per container from Asia to the U.S. We do expect higher rates from Asia to Europe and from Europe to the U.S. this year," Jesper Kjaedegaard, Maersk Sealand deputy director, said. Kjaedegaard`s remarks echoed uncertainty over a possible looming U.S. recession denting world trade and with it container traffic. Investment fund Carnegie World-Wide has halved its five percent stake in Moeller company D/S Svendborg to 2.5 percent due to the gloomy U.S. outlook, Danish financial daily Borsen said on Tuesday. "We believe the company will suffer relatively badly if U.S.