Hamburg Sud said Tuesday that its 2009 revenue dropped 28 percent from the previous year to $4.3 billion as the volume of containers it carried fell 13 percent to 2.3 billion 20-foot equivalent units.
The German shipping line said it posted a loss for the year despite the comparatively positive performance of dry tramp shipping. As a privately owned company, it did not report the size of its loss.
“Considering the historic crisis in liner shipping, however, the fact that the Group overall recorded a positive operational cash flow sufficient to cover the – albeit reduced – investment budget can be viewed as a success,” the company said in its announcement.
Hamburg Sud trimmed the sizes of both its container fleet and of its container pool during the year in response to the global economic and trade downturn.
It cut the number of ships in its fleet by 13 percent to 96 vessels and replaced smaller charter vessels with larger new ships in order to lower its unit costs. As a result the slot capacity of its deployed vessels remained roughly constant at 304,000 TEUs.
Against the backdrop of declining volume, the carrier reduced the number of containers in its container pool by returning leased containers and selling old owned boxes.
The fleet operated by the Hamburg Sud Group, with the inclusion of 52 vessels in the tramp division, consisted of 148 ships of which 36 are owned by the group.
During 2009, Hamburg Sud took delivery of a new “Monte” ship of 5,500 TEUs and three “Rio” vessels of 5,900 TEUs apiece, which will be deployed on the Europe and Asia to East Coast South America trade lanes together with the sister ships delivered in previous years.
The group said it plans to continue increasing the fleet share of the vessels it owns in the years ahead. By 2012, it will take delivery of 12 ships with a total capacity of some 80,000 TEUs. They include 10 vessels of the “Santa” class, which, with a nominal capacity of 7,100 TEUs, will be the largest ships in its fleet.
During 2009, which it called a “crisis year,” Hamburg Sud limited capital spending to $225 million, compared to $714 million in 2008. It plans to increase capital spending to $944 million in the coming three years.
The group said it avoided cutting staff in order to preserve employee expertise and motivation. It did reduce the number of employees ashore by 14 percent to 3,597. At sea this figure rose by 31 percent to 1,194 seamen as a result of the delivery of new ships. Overall, the number of its employees increased by 17 percent to 4,791.
Hamburg Sud said that because of the significant decline in earnings, it cut costs by approximately $404 million. To lower ship system costs, it rationalized liner services in conjunction with partners and instituted slow steaming.
It adopted a wide range of individual measures to cut cargo-handling, intermodal and depot costs. It said the lower fuel surcharges levied by haulage contractors and rail companies had a positive effect.
The group said exchange rates had a positive impact on its operations, including the stronger U.S. dollar as well as the weaker rates of the cost currencies, like the Brazilian real and Australian dollar.
The sharp fall in bunker prices, by contrast, relieved the pressure on costs and results. Fuel expenditure fell to roughly $700 million, down $400 million from the previous year. Of this figure, approximately three-quarters was attributable to lower bunker prices, and one quarter to reduced consumption as a result of slow steaming and the restructuring of the fleet to larger and fewer units.
The German shipping line said it posted a loss for the year despite the comparatively positive performance of dry tramp shipping. As a privately owned company, it did not report the size of its loss.
“Considering the historic crisis in liner shipping, however, the fact that the Group overall recorded a positive operational cash flow sufficient to cover the – albeit reduced – investment budget can be viewed as a success,” the company said in its announcement.
Hamburg Sud trimmed the sizes of both its container fleet and of its container pool during the year in response to the global economic and trade downturn.
It cut the number of ships in its fleet by 13 percent to 96 vessels and replaced smaller charter vessels with larger new ships in order to lower its unit costs. As a result the slot capacity of its deployed vessels remained roughly constant at 304,000 TEUs.
Against the backdrop of declining volume, the carrier reduced the number of containers in its container pool by returning leased containers and selling old owned boxes.
The fleet operated by the Hamburg Sud Group, with the inclusion of 52 vessels in the tramp division, consisted of 148 ships of which 36 are owned by the group.
During 2009, Hamburg Sud took delivery of a new “Monte” ship of 5,500 TEUs and three “Rio” vessels of 5,900 TEUs apiece, which will be deployed on the Europe and Asia to East Coast South America trade lanes together with the sister ships delivered in previous years.
The group said it plans to continue increasing the fleet share of the vessels it owns in the years ahead. By 2012, it will take delivery of 12 ships with a total capacity of some 80,000 TEUs. They include 10 vessels of the “Santa” class, which, with a nominal capacity of 7,100 TEUs, will be the largest ships in its fleet.
During 2009, which it called a “crisis year,” Hamburg Sud limited capital spending to $225 million, compared to $714 million in 2008. It plans to increase capital spending to $944 million in the coming three years.
The group said it avoided cutting staff in order to preserve employee expertise and motivation. It did reduce the number of employees ashore by 14 percent to 3,597. At sea this figure rose by 31 percent to 1,194 seamen as a result of the delivery of new ships. Overall, the number of its employees increased by 17 percent to 4,791.
Hamburg Sud said that because of the significant decline in earnings, it cut costs by approximately $404 million. To lower ship system costs, it rationalized liner services in conjunction with partners and instituted slow steaming.
It adopted a wide range of individual measures to cut cargo-handling, intermodal and depot costs. It said the lower fuel surcharges levied by haulage contractors and rail companies had a positive effect.
The group said exchange rates had a positive impact on its operations, including the stronger U.S. dollar as well as the weaker rates of the cost currencies, like the Brazilian real and Australian dollar.
The sharp fall in bunker prices, by contrast, relieved the pressure on costs and results. Fuel expenditure fell to roughly $700 million, down $400 million from the previous year. Of this figure, approximately three-quarters was attributable to lower bunker prices, and one quarter to reduced consumption as a result of slow steaming and the restructuring of the fleet to larger and fewer units.