Playing the potential sale of NOL must be an extremely careful act as the industry is undergoing a long uncertain winter… NOL last reported book value of US$0.97… question is how much more write off can a suitor factor in?
Maersk Line idling one of its largest vessels
World's top shipping container firm expects supply-demand imbalance to rock industry
Jacqueline Woo
The world's No. 1 container shipping firm has confirmed market talk that it has temporarily idled one of its largest vessels - yet another sign that the industry is in dire straits.
Maersk Line's "Morten Maersk" Triple E mega-ship - among the largest globally with a capacity of 18,000 standard containers - plys the Asia to North Europe route, calling at Singapore along the way.
The ship has been idle in the East China Sea off Shanghai since mid- October, owing to the Chinese Golden Week holiday, said the Copenhagen-based company. But it is expected to resume service in Busan, South Korea, next month.
Chief operating officer Soren Toft told a briefing yesterday that Maersk Line expects its deployed capacity to remain "more or less flat" through next year, amid tepid market conditions.
He noted the company's average freight rates have fallen 1.9 per cent each year since 2004, and said this "slow erosion" in rates will likely continue due to the severe imbalance in global supply and demand. "We're taking the starting point that there will still be tough competition," he said.
Mr Toft acknowledged the industry is "in need of consolidation - to the extent that if it makes sense for us to participate, we will do so".
But he declined to comment on whether AP Moeller-Maersk, Maersk Line's parent company, has indeed dropped out of talks with Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) over a potential acquisition.