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Hapag-Lloyd slashes fleet, eyes more mergers

Hapag-Lloyd, Germany’s largest shipping line, has revealed it has cut its fleet by 23 ships by laying them up or returning chartered vessels in recent months as it fights horrendous market conditions especially on the Asia-Europe and Asia to South America tradelanes.

Speaking with journalists in Hamburg for the first time since November’s muted IPO Rolf Habben Jansen, the Dutch CEO of the line, said Hapag-Lloyd had cut its operating fleet from 198 ships to 175 since autumn. Its fleet capacity has shrunk from around 1m teu to 945,000 teu.

Current freight prices do not even cover operating costs, Habben Jansen said, adding: “It does not make sense to offer capacity, if it only makes losses.”

Only transatlantic and transpacific routes are offering any solace at the moment, Habben Jansen said.

The 49-year-old also discussed the ongoing consolidation within the liner trades, noting how CMA CGM had bought NOL and Cosco and China Shipping were merging.

“This will change our industry,” Habben Jansen said, referring to likely shake ups in global container alliances.

The consolidation also means Hapag-Lloyd, which merged with Chile’s CSAV last year, will slip from fourth to sixth in the global liner rankings.

Habben Jansen did not rule out seeking further acquisitions to bolster the Hamburg line’s position. “It would be helpful for us to be even bigger. We are open to opportunities,” he said.

The merger with CSAV has brought savings of $300m last year, Habben Jansen said, a figure he expects to rise to $400m this year.

This year Habben Jansen expects sales growth of 3%.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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