Larger Vessels — Good Or Bad For The Liner Industry?

Report: Liner Companies Face Many Challenges To Survive Beyond 2000 A report entitled "50 Major Liner Companies" released by Dynamar Overseas, Inc. provides an analysis of 50 liner companies, along with an overall assessment of the market and the challenges it faces.

According to the report, for example, the shipping industry in general and the liner companies in particular are facing difficult times due to: too much focus on TEUs carried rather than the bottom line; increased strength of shippers/shipper groups to join forces in negotiating with shipping conferences/individual lines; a worldwide recession; market saturation by commodities from the Far East, and efforts to revive local production in Europe and the U.S.; and too many empty movements — the report found that 20 percent of the containers carried/ handled are without cargo.

The advent of larger ships coming on line, often replacing smaller vessels, combined with the fact that the smaller vessels being replaced are often sold for further trading to independent carriers, instead of being sent to the breakers, is having a negative impact on the overall health of the industry. The author of the report notes the vessels in the 4,400- to 4,950-TEU range currently coming into service, and the ease to which these vessels could be jumbo ized to capacities of 6,000 TEU. The report maintains, obviously contingent on port capacity and accessibility, that in the future vessels of 8,000 TEU could become feasible.

The report also analyzes the three major trade routes, providing a statistical analysis of past performance and 1994 projections, in determining the needs for these routes in the near and long-term future.

Fcr information on obtaining "£>0 Major Liner Companies" Circle 83 on Reader Service Card

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Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.