APMM Group CEO to CNN: We Won’t Give Up Our Leading Position in Shipping



In a live interview on CNN yesterday, A.P. Moller – Maersk Group CEO Nils S. Andersen commented on the Group’s strategy, confirming his commitment to remain the world leader in shipping.
“Shipping is not the most profitable of the sectors we are in,” admitted Andersen, referring to the Group strategy of creating a more balanced and stable group where oil, drilling and terminals play a larger role. This does not, however, mean a move away from shipping.
“We are not going to give up our position as the leading shipping company in the world,” Andersen said. “We will invest 6-8 billion USD in the shipping business in the next 5 year period.”
The Group will make sure to retain its position, Andersen repeated: “We are a leader in shipping … we have orders on our books that will enable us to grow with the market.”
Andersen presented a carefully positive outlook for Maersk Line: “We think the world economy is moving in the right direction, very slowly … in the second half of 2013 we will see container volumes starting to grow in the European trade again.”

According to its figures, this year will be the second highest year for containerships exiting the market, after the record year of 2009 when 381,000teu was lost.

And the average age of containerships scrapped so far this year is at an historical low of 24 years, with 37 ships under 20 years old sold for scrap.

The week, the total existing cellular fleet stands at 4,946 ships, the equivalent of 16.3 million teu.

AP Møller-Maersk holds top market share, with 15.5%, 2.58 million teu. Following behind is MSC, which owns 13.1% of the world liner fleet.

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