Maersk posts a quarterly loss of US$599 million despite 18pc volume rise

DENMARK's AP Moller-Maersk Group has posted its first quarter results, which its container shipping unit Maersk Line suffered US$599 million year-on-year loss despite a 18 per cent growth in volumes.

The carrier said the average freight rate fell nine per cent compared to the same period last year.

Overall, the group delivered a profit of $1.2 billion, drawn on revenues of $14.32 billion, down one per cent year on year. Compared to the same quarter of 2011, it experienced almost zero growth in the first quarter. Excluding divestment gains and one-off tax income from the settlement of an Algerian tax dispute, the group recorded zero profit in the first three months, against a profit of $1.1 billion in the same period of 2011.

Group CEO Nils Andersen said the company is "not satisfied" with its first quarter performance, adding "earnings in shipping were weak due to the continued loss-making rates in the container and tanker markets. However, our efforts to increase container rates are paying off and we will continue our initiatives to improve rates throughout the year.

"We will also maintain a high level of costs for oil exploration and development of discoveries for production. We are confident that these investments will enable us to stop the decline in our oil production and then return to growth towards our target of 400,000 barrels per day."

Looking ahead, Maersk expects the group's year-end 2012 earnings will be slightly lower than the $3.4 billion recorded in 2011. Cash flow used for capital expenditure is expected to remain the same as in 2011.

For container shipping, Maersk Line said it "expects a negative up to neutral result in 2012, based on the assumption that the rate restoration that has taken place since March 2012 will continue."

The Maersk Line projects the global demand for seaborne containers will increase by four to six per cent in 2012, with lower increases on the Asia-Europe trades, but higher increases on the north-south trades.

picture: google.com

Maersk Line adds Le Havre, Hamburg, Zeebrugge to Daily Maersk from February

DANISH shipping giant Maersk Line has announced it will add port calls at Le Havre, Hamburg and Zeebrugge in February in its Daily Maersk service to enhance its "conveyor belt" concept on its main Asia-Europe route.

The service requires a 26-day transit from Shanghai to Zeebrugge and Le Havre and 28 days to Hamburg, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce, adding that Maersk has ended its vessel sharing agreement with CMA CGM after the newly announced CMA CGM-MSC alliance.

Said Maersk's vice president of Europe service Vincent Clerc: "The cancellation of the vessel sharing agreement ... offered us another opportunity to look at how we serve customers moving cargo between Asia and north Europe.

"We found that without CMA we could actually offer an enhanced service to more customers in more corridors and maintain our promise on the Daily Maersk corridors. So that is what we did."

CMA CGM chief financial officer Michel Sirat said the key aim of forming an alliance with MSC is to upgrade services so that the two carriers can compete with Maersk.

The 13,092-TEU Maersk Edison will be responsible for the last sailing in the vessel sharing agreement with CMA CGM, with a cut-off in Ningbo, China on February 16.

The world's largest carriers said it will offer a new Asia-Mediterranean service to replace the one partnering with CMA CGM now.

The report said shippers will benefit from shorter transit times and higher reliability. But they cannot receive cash compensation for late guaranteed deliveries available on the Daily Maersk service connecting four Asian ports with Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Felixstowe.

Daily Maersk currently deploys 70 ships, offering daily Asia-Europe service seven days a week between Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen-Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas and northern Europe.

source: shippinggazette / picture: google.com

MAERSK Line orders World's LARGEST and efficient Container SHIPS

Maersk the leading containership carrier has ordered 10 World's largest and efficient Container Ships ever, each of them has the capacity to carry 18,000 Tue (Twenty-Feet Containers), these gigantic containerships are classified as ' Triple-E '.

"Called the ‘Triple-E’ class for the three main purposes behind their creation — Economy of scale, Energy efficient and Environmentally improved — these new container vessels do not just set a new benchmark for size: they will surpass the current industry records for fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions per container moved held by the Emma Mærsk class vessels."

These containerships will be built in Korea by Daewoo Ship Building & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd and are set for the Delivery between 2013 and 2015. The Containerships will be deployed on Asia - Europe trade lanes. So far only Rotterdam, Felixstowe and Bremerhaven have ports deep enough to accommodate the containership of this size. Each of this Triple-E Class vessel will cost US $ 190 Million, which means the total amount of this order would be approx US $ 2 Billion, making it the single largest order ever placed in the Containership Industry.

Will confirmation of Maersk's 18,000 TEU vessel order intensify competition for capacity among carriers?

MAERSK Line, the world’s largest shipping line by capacity, is now also confirmed as having placed the largest capacity order in the history of container shipping, with a reported 10 X 18,000 TEU vessels ordered by the Danish shipping giant for delivery between 2013 and 2015.

The deal, which was inked with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), also gives the carrier an option to purchase a further 20 such vessels in the future.

In comparison with Maersk's present largest Emma Maersk "PS Class" ship carrying 15,550 TEU, the new Triple-E class will have 16 per cent more capacity.

These mega ships, sometimes referred to as "Malaccamax", have been talked about for more than a decade and media reports of this Maersk order have been circulating worldwide over the past few months.

Speaking on the benefits to operators of these vessels, Oslo-based DNV said that these large ships are not only green vessels due to their lower fuel consumption per TEU, but they also provide the shipping lines with a lower fuel cost, courtesy of their economy of scale.

"Two decades ago, studies were published comparing two 4,000-TEU ships to one 8,000-TEU ship and showed a reduced total cost per unit. Today, a comparison between two 8,000-TEU ships and one 16,000-TEU shows the same trend. The capital cost for the bigger ship is in the order of 20 per cent less and the fuel cost around 40 per cent less, the exact numbers depend on the building price and fuel price," said DNV in an article entitled "The future of the ultra large containership".

Reiterating this salient concept, Maersk positions this new and gigantic 18,000-TEU container vessel class as Triple-E: "Economy" of scale, "Energy" efficiency and "Environmentally" improved.

The dimensions of the new vessel class are 400 metres long (LOA), 59 metres wide (beam), 73 metres tall (height) and is equipped with a draft of 16.5 metres.

The Triple-E class ships can stow 23 rows of containers on deck for a deadweight estimated at 200,000 tons, according to maritime analyst Alphaliner.

source: csm.hksg.com | picture: google.com