A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S., the world’s largest container-ship operator, expects industrywide box-ship lay-ups to expand 66 percent by early next year as new-vessel deliveries continue amid slowing world trade. The capacity of the laid-up fleet will likely rise to 2 million twenty-foot containers from 1.2 million by late this year or early 2010, Anthony Randall, Australian sales director at Maersk’s container unit, told a conference in Melbourne today.
“It’s desperate times,” he said. “We’ve got declining volumes, lines have been busy fighting for market share, and consequently rates have fallen to an unsustainable level.” Container lines have slashed fees and idled vessels as U.S.
and European consumers pare purchases of Asian-made goods amid the global recession. Maersk Line’s first-quarter volumes tumbled 14 percent, while its rates plunged 24 percent.
“The speed at which the decline has occurred has caught everyone off guard,” Randall said. “Over the past months, freight levels have hit low points and now carriers are busy trying to restore rates to respectable levels.”
As of July, container lines had idled 11 percent of the global fleet in terms of capacity, Randall said. Ships with a combined capacity of 800,000 containers are due to be delivered in the second half of this year, followed by a further 1.7 million boxes’ worth next year, he added.
Maersk Line, which operates some 470 vessels and owns about 1.9 million containers, lost $559 million in the first quarter.
Parent A.P. Moeller-Maersk, Denmark’s largest company by sales, also owns the Nordic region’s second-largest oil and gas explorer, a 20 percent stake in Denmark’s largest bank, Danske Bank A/S, and a tanker unit.
“It’s desperate times,” he said. “We’ve got declining volumes, lines have been busy fighting for market share, and consequently rates have fallen to an unsustainable level.” Container lines have slashed fees and idled vessels as U.S.
and European consumers pare purchases of Asian-made goods amid the global recession. Maersk Line’s first-quarter volumes tumbled 14 percent, while its rates plunged 24 percent.
“The speed at which the decline has occurred has caught everyone off guard,” Randall said. “Over the past months, freight levels have hit low points and now carriers are busy trying to restore rates to respectable levels.”
As of July, container lines had idled 11 percent of the global fleet in terms of capacity, Randall said. Ships with a combined capacity of 800,000 containers are due to be delivered in the second half of this year, followed by a further 1.7 million boxes’ worth next year, he added.
Maersk Line, which operates some 470 vessels and owns about 1.9 million containers, lost $559 million in the first quarter.
Parent A.P. Moeller-Maersk, Denmark’s largest company by sales, also owns the Nordic region’s second-largest oil and gas explorer, a 20 percent stake in Denmark’s largest bank, Danske Bank A/S, and a tanker unit.