OVERSUPPLY in the containership market will linger for four to five years, Maersk CEO Nils Andersen told Lloyd's List in an interview.
It won't be as bad as some think, mitigated by better Asia-Europe volumes, he said, but with 20 per cent of existing capacity still on order, oversupply will be fact of life for years to come.
“We have given up on the idea of growing faster than the market and we have adapted our capacity expansion to realistic market growth expectations,?he said.
But others have over-ordered, wrongly believing they can still make money, he said.
Mr Andersen said Maersk's 2M partner, MSC’s decision to lease megaships, was a mere reshuffling of capacity, with ship acquisitions being offset by the return of other chartered units.
He said there is little likelihood of Maersk acquisitions despite a first half operating profit of US$1 billion.
“We are of course always in the lookout for investments but acquisitions on the shipping side are not high on our priority list,?he said.
Of the future, he said: “It was a great result and we would love to have more, but it is not something we are betting on. As long as the industry is not making a healthy profit, an 8.5 per cent margin is great.
OPINION
21 August 2014 - 21:08
"Box ship oversupply new normal for 4-5 years"
OVERSUPPLY in the containership market will linger for four to five years, Maersk CEO Nils Andersen told Lloyd's List in an interview.
OPINION
21 August 2014 - 21:08
Box ship oversupply new normal for 4-5 years: Maersk CEO Andersen
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