President of Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has made a pledge to invest in a 20,000 TEU capacity mega-ship.
MOL President, Koichi Muto, said in a New Year’s message: “I think many of you may be worried about our containership business. And the fact is, in terms of competitiveness and earnings strength within the industry, we are somewhat behind.”
According to the Journal of Commerce, MOL reported a US$99 million loss in the first six months of 2014, compared to a $34 million loss during the same period of 2013.
Muto commented on the declining container shipping industry, saying: “I regret to report that the containership division is showing a significant deficit for this fiscal term due to lower freight rates on Asia-South America East Coast routes, along with delays in the work to fully automate our US terminal, despite increasing cargo volume, mainly on the East-West trade and considerable improvement in the business environment.”
He added: “There is still a lot of room to improve profitability with advancement of operations and yield management.
“Management and employees in the containership division need to objectively analyse our cost competitiveness and our sales capabilities, and put every effort into restoring profitability as the key objective. This is the critical point. Now is the time to be tenacious, and move forward.”
Mitsui OSK Lines are the third largest Japanese container line, and have recently opted into a box-ship project, totalling $900 million.
MOL in 20,000 TEU Megaship Pledge. (Source: Safety 4 Sea)
