COPENHAGEN - Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe jumped 87.8 percent to $554 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ending on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. The increase comes after several major container shipping companies announced price hikes with effect from Dec 1. In the week to Friday, container freight rates jumped 98.7 percent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, rose 1.5 percent to ports on the U.S. West Coast and were up 0.7 percent to ports on the U.S. East Coast. Maersk Line, the global market leader with more than 600 container vessels and part of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, earlier in November reported a 61 percent drop in net profit in the third quarter.