Maersk Line said it has acquired its desired market share in the Asia-Europe trade and will now prioritize the restoration of its profitability after severe losses in 2011 and a forecast of more losses this year from excess vessel capacity.
Soren Skou, CEO of the world’s biggest container shipping line, told a news conference in London on March 5 that the company raised its market share between Asia and Europe to 19.4 percent in 2011 from 17.8 percent in 2006.
The carrier said the introduction of the Daily Maersk liner service in October 2011 helped bolster its Asia-Europe market share, and it is mulling expanding the service to other trade routes, such as the Asia-U.S. market, later this year.
Last February, the company said it would remove 9 percent of its capacity from the Asia-Europe corridor to boost sagging freight rates and raise profitability. It has also chosen not to exercise its option to order 10 more mega vessels to tighten capacity.
The container shipping arm of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk also said at the media briefing that it plans to widen its use of slow steaming on Asia-Europe routes and introduce the process in the Pacific to reduce fuel costs and shrink capacity.
At the same time, it urged for a better supply-demand balance of vessels to keep freight rates in the black. “The industry needs to stop ordering container ships. Only if someone actually has the money to buy a vessel should this be done,” Skou said.
Photo: Maersk Line
