Shanghai: The growing fleet of Chinese flagged heavylift vessels is putting pressure on international players, a senior executive from Germany’s SAL Heavy Lift has told SinoShip News.
Justin Archard, managing director for Asia and Oceania for SAL Heavy Lift, said the China market is tough this year.
“We are starting to see the structural changes in the overall world fleet,” he said, “with the Chinese now building their vessels to compete with our vessels, coastal trade is off-limits to us, and Chinese flag vessels are probably favoured for export cargoes.”
While Archard sees new pressure coming into the Chinese market he noted opportunities from the increasing export volume from the People’s Republic. “Hopefully one will offset the other, and we’ll be sort of net gained in the amount of available cargo there is,” he said.
For SAL Heavy Lift, Archard said the company does not expect to grow the business in China in terms of fleet numbers, but it does expect to grow the business in terms of revenue. [18/03/14]
