Global shipping giants AP Moller-Maersk has predicted that the company’s balance sheet will be in deficit for this year and next year hinging the losses on dwindling container volume on account of global economic meltdown.
He company said lastt week that there will be a possible 10 per cent fall in container traffic world wide this year adding that the situation may worsen by year 2010, a situation which Maersk Line’s container unit CEO Eivind Kolding described last week as a “completely unprecedented” decline.
“We will have a substantial loss this year and next year will be equally difficult. We have been quite disappointed by the market development s in April and May.”
To cushion the effects of dwindling container traffic, the group is diverting to its tanker business which is managed by subsidiary Maersk Tankers.
Maersk Tankers, which is also the world’s largest product tanker group, also said last week that it expected mergers and acquisition activities to pick up in its sector at the expense of commercial pools, allowing shippers to cut costs and boost vessel usage.
The company, which is part of Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk and which operates 180 tankers, said it expected rivals to pursue it in a quest for larger fleet sizes and cost savings.
Maersk Tankers Chief Executive Soren Skou said: "I believe the industry will see more balance sheet consolidation in the coming years rather than more pools and that way we’ll get the large-scale advantage on overhead costs, administration and technical issues."
Commercial pools enable shippers to gain marketing clout and volume but do not give shipowners the same economies-of-scale as being a big fleet owner like Maersk.
International shipping has been hit hard by the global economic downturn, but unlike container shipping — the cornerstone of Maersk shipping making up 15 percent of world box ship capacity — tanker markets have suffered less despite a global slump in oil consumption.
"We’re coming off the lows," Skou said, referring to a rebound in tanker rates from lows not seen since the post USA September 11, economic slump. Maersk Tankers controls about seven percent of the world product tanker fleet.
The company, which is part of Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk and which operates 180 tankers, said it expected rivals to pursue it in a quest for larger fleet sizes and cost savings.
Maersk Tankers Chief Executive Soren Skou said: "I believe the industry will see more balance sheet consolidation in the coming years rather than more pools and that way we’ll get the large-scale advantage on overhead costs, administration and technical issues."
Commercial pools enable shippers to gain marketing clout and volume but do not give shipowners the same economies-of-scale as being a big fleet owner like Maersk.
International shipping has been hit hard by the global economic downturn, but unlike container shipping — the cornerstone of Maersk shipping making up 15 percent of world box ship capacity — tanker markets have suffered less despite a global slump in oil consumption.
"We’re coming off the lows," Skou said, referring to a rebound in tanker rates from lows not seen since the post USA September 11, economic slump. Maersk Tankers controls about seven percent of the world product tanker fleet.
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