MEGA vessels hold the key to survival on Asia-Europe trade lanes, which is expected to be unprofitable until 2013 as freight rates come under increasing pressure, says Geneva's Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) vice-president Diego Aponte.
MEGA vessels hold the key to survival on Asia-Europe trade lanes, which is expected to be unprofitable until 2013 as freight rates come under increasing pressure, says Geneva's Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) vice-president Diego Aponte. Volume growth is there, but it will never be explosive like it used to be in 2007," said Mr Aponte. "Economies of scale are essential." MSC's new partnership with Marseilles' CMA CGM is a move to strengthen its position vis-a-vis market leading Maersk Line, noted Newark's Journal of Commerce. This followed Maersk's US$3.8 billion order for twenty 18,000-TEU ships, and its rationalised daily service between four Asian and three north European ports. Mr Aponte believes the economic slowdown will promote further alliances among rivals with survival of carriers based on maintaining global reach through economies of scale.
