MORE mergers in ocean shipping are expected by Maersk Line chief operating officer Soren Toft, though once consolidation reduces the field to a few companies, he sees the focus shifting from cost-cutting to value-added services like cutting turnaround times.
"We expect that within - I cannot give a timeframe on it - that you will see maybe a handful of shipping companies, a bit like what you see in the courier express industry, where there're only three global companies," said Mr Toft, reported Singapore's Straits Times.
Consolidation in container shipping has had major carriers swallowed by rivals with South Korea's Hanjin Shipping declaring bankruptcy with Maersk buying Germany's north-south specialist Hamburg Sud.
In July, China's Cosco, which already merged with fellow state-run carrier China Shipping (CSCL), made a US$6.3 billion offer for the parent company of OOCL of Hong Kong and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd bought United Arab Shipping Co (UASC) of Kuwait.