By Jim Field
Keeping us up-to-date on the global shipping industry--those merchants we observe and navigate around as sportfishermen--Maersk shipping lines reported 2009 financial results that under-impressed as a result of the recent and ongoing collapse in global trade. Their annual report revealed some interesting facts about their business that we might appreciate (in our quest for knowledge about all things aquatic):
- Maersk is the world's largest freight shipping company, founded in 1904
- It's container shipping business lost $2.1 billion in 2009
- Like other carriers, Maersk invested heavily in new ships during the boom in the 2000s
- Now it has a surplus of ships, contributing to a global oversupply at a time when trade is undergoing its worst slump since WWII
- - The industry has laid up ships, reduced staff, and cut costs in various ways, including avoiding the Suez Canal and reducing cruising speeds
- About 12% of the world fleet is idle
- Financial recovery for the industry is predicated on decommissioning ships and therefore reducing supply
- Maersk also wants to do more "backhaul" business--lower paying work involving shipping empty containers back to exporting nations
- The "fronthaul" business, in contrast, is more profitable but also more competitive
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment