|
"The current orderbook (is) not sufficient to
grow with the market," Maersk Line, the world's largest shipping
company by number of vessels, said in a presentation for
analysts at the company's headquarters in Copenhagen.
"Vessels will support a low cost position by being the largest
possible in each trade," it said in the presentation.
It was not immediately clear how many ships the company would
order. It currently has 500 in its fleet.
Consulting group Alphaliner predicted this month that world No.
2 Switzerland-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company could
overtake Maersk Line by 2016 based on the industry's current
orderbook.
Maersk Line, a unit in the Danish conglomerate A.P.
Moller-Maersk, controls around 20 percent of transported goods
on the world's busiest route between Asia and Europe. Globally,
its market share is around 15 percent.
The industry has been battling overcapacity since the financial
crisis because new vessels ordered before the downturn have
flooded the market. This has driven rates on the main route
between Asia and northern Europe to loss-making levels.
Of the 15 biggest container shipping companies in the world,
only four managed to make a profit in the first half of 2014.
Maersk Line, the most profitable, reported an earnings gap of
five percentage point above peers for seven consecutive
quarters.
(Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen; editing by Susan Thomas)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
