THE role of liner niche players will grow as bigger carriers increase vessel sizes and rely more on hub and spoke systems, giving smaller carriers a chance to provide faster, direct services, a London shipping conference was told.That was the view of shipping analyst Lars Jensen, who recently worked at niche carrier The Containership Company (TCC), a niche player which announced it was going out of business shortly after Mr Jensen made his remarks to the conference.
Said Mr Jensen: "As the larger carriers get bigger vessels they will build up their hub and spoke operations, and this will offer more opportunities for niche players which can offer direct services that will become very interesting to shippers, as these are direct port-to-port routes rather than transshipment."
Fellow panellist, NYK chief operations officer Jeremy Nixon, said: "If we look at the deep sea legs we have to think whether we can run some tonnage between particular locations, and can we get slot costs low enough to compare with large network hub and spokes. It's tricky."
Said Mr Jensen: "It is hard to see in the long run major ocean carriers going over to the niche market as a lot of their capital will be tied up in the 13,000 - 18,000 TEU vessels - and if they put in smaller services their volumes will cannibilise volumes from their 13,000 - 18,000 TEU vessels."
To this, Michelin representative told the conference, sponsored by London's Containerisation International: "In the Mediterranean market, using global transhipment means longer transit times, whereas dedicated Med carriers offer faster, more personalised service. As long as they offer good service and good rates we will continue to support them."
Jurgen Sorgenfrei, director maritime consulting services at IHS Global Insight, agreed, saying the speed smaller carriers offer was important. "Flexibility of these companies is a big advantage. They react very fast."
Source : HKSG, 11.04.11..
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