The world’s largest container shipping company confident for the future as it places order for container ships.Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, has announced an order for 10 of the world’s biggest container ships. Worth over $4 billion dollars, the container shipping expert needs the ships to meet surging demand, in particular from Asia.
Despite a global slump in the container-shipping sector in 2009, business has recovered well. However, with ever-larger ships being built to hold increasing numbers of containers, it is predicted the market is heading for a period of consolidation with smaller players at risk.
The worldwide rise in fuel prices has also affected the market, but unlike other overseas shipping methods, container companies have managed to offset a percentage of the rises by sailing at slower speeds.
Business analyst Tony Luckett believes the humble metal container has transformed the transport of goods over long distances. He goes as far as to say that modern containers facilitated globalization, along with cheaper manufacturing in the emerging markets, falling trade barriers and improved communications.
Since being introduced, containerisation has become the main method of shipping goods over the oceans. Load goods into a large, lockable metal box and you’ve got a watertight method of shipping items that is cheaper to handle (no loading and unloading of individually boxes or cartons), safer and less exposed to ‘shrinkage’ (ie stock going missing) during transport.
Containers offer fully intermodal freight transport, as the standard sizes used means that a container can, for example, be loaded at factory, dropped onto the back of a lorry and driven to the port, loaded onto a container ship and then off loaded directly onto rail at the other end.
Daniel Parry, CEO of a transportation marketplace website commented : “The world faces a shortage of ships in the coming years due to the surge in demand for container shipping. We’ve found container shipping is the preferred method of transporting goods from and to long distance destinations for many of our clients, especially those with trading links to Asia. Maersk investing in newly built ships can only mean economies of scale and competitive pricing on container shipping, which we and our clients very much welcome.”
Despite a global slump in the container-shipping sector in 2009, business has recovered well. However, with ever-larger ships being built to hold increasing numbers of containers, it is predicted the market is heading for a period of consolidation with smaller players at risk.
The worldwide rise in fuel prices has also affected the market, but unlike other overseas shipping methods, container companies have managed to offset a percentage of the rises by sailing at slower speeds.
Business analyst Tony Luckett believes the humble metal container has transformed the transport of goods over long distances. He goes as far as to say that modern containers facilitated globalization, along with cheaper manufacturing in the emerging markets, falling trade barriers and improved communications.
Since being introduced, containerisation has become the main method of shipping goods over the oceans. Load goods into a large, lockable metal box and you’ve got a watertight method of shipping items that is cheaper to handle (no loading and unloading of individually boxes or cartons), safer and less exposed to ‘shrinkage’ (ie stock going missing) during transport.
Containers offer fully intermodal freight transport, as the standard sizes used means that a container can, for example, be loaded at factory, dropped onto the back of a lorry and driven to the port, loaded onto a container ship and then off loaded directly onto rail at the other end.
Daniel Parry, CEO of a transportation marketplace website commented : “The world faces a shortage of ships in the coming years due to the surge in demand for container shipping. We’ve found container shipping is the preferred method of transporting goods from and to long distance destinations for many of our clients, especially those with trading links to Asia. Maersk investing in newly built ships can only mean economies of scale and competitive pricing on container shipping, which we and our clients very much welcome.”