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Maersk Line will add four vessels of over 6,000 TEUs each to the Asia-Europe trade as the carrier tries to cut back on soaring fuel costs and cope with port congestion.
Three 6,600 TEU vessels and one 6,000 TEU ship will be deployed on the AE2, AE6, AE8 and AE9 routes during the quiet period after Chinese New Year in February.
Asked why the new capacity would be injected into a route showing signs of overcapacity, Maersk Line's Lee Michael Sissons said scheduling changes would ensure that bringing in the four vessels would not expand capacity.
The line's director of Asia-Europe Westbound Routes said yesterday that the scheduling improvements would see some corridors experiencing "a day or two more in transit time".
"We hope we don't lose customers because of this," he said.
Maersk said port congestion was having an escalating impact on the line's ability to provide reliable services.
"The addition of four vessels will enable us to incorporate additional buffer time into our schedules," the statement said.
Even with the four new vessels, the Danish carrier will inject less capacity into Asia-Europe than planned. The company had planned to add 17% more capacity during 2008, but will now increase its capacity by about 12%.
Sissons said that the carrier expected a "fairly strong market" in 2008.
"The Asia-Europe trade has been very strong and most lines and ports underestimated the growth. It exceeded all expectations," he said.
Sissons said estimates from various researchers were that growth on Asia-Europe next year would be between 16 and 20%.
CargonewsAsia
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