The fiercely competitive world of feeder box shipping has claimed another victim. Hamburg-based Team Lines will cease operating from February 11.
The company cited deteriorating market conditions in northern Europe as well as the ongoing consolidation within the liner sector for its demise in a letter to clients signed by top management, Alexander Saverys, part of the Compagnie Maritime Belge clan, and Benjamin Weinacht.
Team Lines was founded in 1991 as an amalgamation of the Baltic and North Sea liner traffic activities of four Hamburg-based shipping companies, H.M. Gehrckens, Ernst Russ, Johannes Ick and Mathies Reederei Schwedendienst. In 2006, the Saverys family containerline Delphis from Antwerp took over Team Lines.
Commenting on LinkedIn, Lars Jensen from box analysts SeaIntelligence Consulting, suggested there would be plenty more feeder consolidation to come.
“As the consolidation among the largest global players [has] almost reached its natural endpoint, this is not yet the case in the smaller segments,” Jensen stated.
