Maersk Line CEO: Container Ship Capacity to Rise 11% via New Deliveries in 2013

   By Gaurav Raghuvanshi 
 

A.P. Moller-Maersk (AMKBY) expects container ship capacity to grow 11% this year, outpacing demand, the chief of its container shipping business said Monday.

The industry is likely to scrap more vessels, sail them at even slower speeds and idle more ships in order to balance supply with growth, Soren Skou, the chief executive of Maersk Line, told reporters at a news conference in Singapore.

"We expect to get a reasonable balance between demand growth and supply growth. But it requires that the industry acts in a reasonably fair manner," Mr. Skou said, referring to container shippers avoiding engaging in a fare war to attract customers.

Slow steaming, industry term for slowing down ships to save fuel, will reduce effective industry-wide capacity by 2% 2013.

In 2013, 2% of the global container vessel fleet may be scrapped, and the percentage of ships that are idling may grow at least one percentage point from the current 5% to 6%, he said. Demand on the Asia to Europe routes may grow between 3% and 5% this year, he said, adding that demand between Asia and Africa and Asia and Latin America is rising faster at about 5% annually.

Mr. Skou also said he expects the industry to implement previously announced rate increases from March 15. Most major container shipping firms have announced rate increases that are effective this month.

Maersk Line is the world's biggest container ship operator by volume.

Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at [e-mail]

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