Maersk Line Profits More Than Triple in 2013

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday February 27, 2014

Profits for Danish shipping giant Maersk Line more than tripled to $1.5 billion for 2013, up from $461 million the previous year, thanks to vessel network efficiencies and lower bunker prices, and despite falling freight rates, parent company A.P. Møller-Maersk (Maersk) reports.

The shipping line's revenues fell 3 percent to $26.2 billion as its average freight rate fell to $2,674 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU), from $2,881 per FEUin 2012,.

Maersk Line transported 8.8 million FEU in 2013, up from 8.5 million FEU the previous year.

The average fuel price it paid dropped to $595 per metric tonne (pmt) from $661 pmt.

Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipping company, maintained a market share in line with 2012, while volumes transported grew by 4.1 percent.

Its fleet capacity grew by 0.2 percent to 2.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) as four Triple-E ships were delivered.

Another 16 Triple-E ships will join the company's fleet in 2014 and 2015.

"To minimize the impact of the low and volatile freight rate environment Maersk Line continued to absorb capacity by active capacity adjustments throughout the year in the form of idling, slow steaming, and blanked sailings," the company said.

Looking toward 2014, Maersk Line anticipates a similar result to 2013.

"Maersk Line aims to improve its competitiveness, although unit cost reductions will be less than in 2013," the company said.

"Global demand for seaborne container transportation is expected to increase by 4-5% and Maersk Line aims to grow with the market."

Parent company A.P. Møller-Maersk's revenues fell 4 percent to $47.4 billion, driven partly by the lower container freight rates, and its profits dropped 6 percent to $3.8 billion.

A report in October suggested the company could lose its status as the world's largest container shipping line if it continues the strategy of growing with the market, and Maersk Line CEO Søren Skou said that the company might shift gears and try to increase its market share.