In a bid to improve vessel utilisation, Maersk has announced its intention to introduce two-to-four larger string reductions, which will take effect in Q4, 2015, according to The Loadstar.
The move comes during a time when the world’s biggest trade lane is going through a de-stocking phase, with Maersk’s Jakob Stausholm, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer for the company welcoming CSCL and Cosco’s decision to enter into a vessel-sharing agreement because of the unhealthy state of the insustry.
Soren Skou, CEO of Maersk Line, said: “We are in a tough industry and we are also facing some significant headwinds right now. Short-term, our response is the only rational response and that is to take capacity out.
“We will continue to drive costs down by deploying bigger ships and filling them,” while adding that its 2M alliance “gives us an advantage as it allows us to fill the ships in a sustainable way.”
Soren Skou claims that Maersk’s 2M vessel-sharing agreement with MSC is the best in the market and along with MSC, the two lines currently hold the top two ranking with the most TEU capacity for international trade.
Maersk’s operating arm APMT has recently decided to buy out Grup TCB and its 11 container terminals, shortly after announcing its biggest single port investment for a port project in Cambodia, Africa.
