Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container-shipping operator by
capacity, is completing an order of 10 container megaships from Korea’s
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. worth more than $1.5
billion, two people directly involved with the matter said.
It will be the first time since 2011 that Maersk Line, a unit of the
Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, returns to
the market for ships of this size. Back then, it placed an order with
DSME for 20 so-called Triple-E ships, which carry in excess of 18,000
containers each. The last two vessels from that order will be delivered
to Maersk by July.
“The new order—likely six firm ships and four options—will be
announced in coming weeks and deliveries will start in 2017,” one of the
people said. “The ships will likely be deployed in the Europe-to-Asia
trade loop as part of Maersk’s 2M alliance with [Swiss-based]
Mediterranean Shipping Co.”
Container shipping, which moves more than 95% of the world’s
manufactured goods, is largely controlled by about a dozen European and
Asian operators. Those companies have come together over the past year
to form alliances that substantially cut operational costs through the
sharing of vessels, trade networks and port calls. Industry officials
say that over the next three years, smaller competitors likely will be
forced out of the main trade lines from Europe to Asia and across the
Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as they won’t be able to compete in terms
of cost and capacity.
Maersk 2M alliance with MSC moves 35% of all cargo between Asia and
Europe and also controls a market share of 15% and 37% of goods moved on
the trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic routes, respectively. Ocean Three,
another grouping, made up of French shipping giant CMA CGM SA, China
Shipping Container Lines Co. and Middle East shipping major United Arab
Shipping Co., controls a 20% slice of all cargo between Asia and Europe
and 13% and 7% across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, respectively.
“All big names have either ordered or are in the market for
ultra-large container ships,” said Jonathan Roach, an analyst with
London-based Braemar-ACM Shipbroking. “The orders are to fulfill
capacity commitments within the alliances, rather than demand-driven,
and this is creating a serious overcapacity in the water of around 30%.
This means that freight rates will continue to be under pressure over
the next couple of years.”
The cost of shipping a container from Asia to Europe, the world’s
biggest seaborne trade route, jumped 151% this week to $861 after 13
straight weeks of declines, according to the Shanghai Containerized
Freight Index, which tracks freight rates. But Mr. Roach said the
increase was the result of delayed general rate increases by all
shipping lines, and prices are expected to fall over the next several
weeks.
The weekly average freight cost for the first four months of 2015
stands at $797 a container, compared with $1,168 in the same period last
year. Operators have said prices below $1,300 over the long run are
unsustainable. Analysts expect global container-fleet capacity to increase by 8%
this year, nearly double the rate of demand of around 4% to 5%.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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