[170411.EN.SEA] Maersk Line Likely To Opt for 10 Megaships in June

(SINGAPORE) Maersk Line is most likely going to exercise its option for another 10 of the world's largest ships in June, said Nils Andersen - group chief executive officer of AP Moller- Maersk Group - yesterday on the sidelines of the Singapore Maritime Lecture, organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

Mr Andersen: The decision about the option for the third batch of 10 megaships will be made at year-end

This batch of orders for the 18,000 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) behemoths - the Triple-E class ships - follows the liner's order for the first batch of 10 Triple-E class vessels back in February.

According to Mr Andersen, who delivered this year's Singapore Maritime Lecture, the decision about whether to exercise the option for the third batch of 10 18,000-TEU ships will be made at the end of the year.

In response to a query about whether any of these megaships will be making a call at Singapore, Mr Andersen said: 'We don't know exactly where that will be making its call but we've been very active in Singapore all the time. We've moved some port calls out of Singapore but we're having seven (strings) out of Singapore and 20 strings out of Malaysia at the moment.'

Even as Maersk seeks to bring in more capacity with the first batch of megaships being delivered from 2013 to 2015, the issue of oversupply continues to cast a long shadow over the industry - a problem that is compounded by higher fuel prices and softening freight rates.

In a question posed to Mr Andersen yesterday, Andreas Sohmen-Pao - a board member of the MPA and group CEO of BW Maritime - asked if in the pursuit of greater market share, there is a risk of overcapacity caused by liners ordering new ships.

While acknowledging that Maersk Line had placed large orders, Mr Andersen pointed out that Maersk contributes only 8 per cent of additional capacity per year.

He did concede, however, that 'we are seeing far too much tonnage', and that the ongoing trend of larger containerships could have implications for smaller players.

'I do think that specifically for the container business . . . We will most likely see some consolidation. Some of the smaller players could be a little bit more restricted in going out and ordering large ships.'

Rising tonnage and higher oil prices have not been the only figures plaguing shipping. Mr Andersen pointed out that the industry currently has about 700 people being held hostage in Somalia.

'That's a terrifying figure. This is much more important than the vessels because if it was only the vessel, we would just write them off. I sometimes wonder whether if there were two jumbo jets that were hijacked and the people were held hostage under a lot of visibility, if the situation would not be resolved,' said Mr Andersen.

'We must insist that if we're supposed to supply the world with goods and raw materials and keep the global engine running, then someone takes care of the safety of our crews . . . It's a serious problem and governments should do something about it.'

Source : BT, 14.04.11.