Maersk Line is maintaining “tight management” of its vessel capacity despite rising cargo volume and rates, parent company A.P. Moller-Maersk said.
The company said in its earnings report that during the first quarter it idled 17 vessels with about 72,000 20-foot equivalent units, returned three leased ships and scrapped two older, smaller container vessels. During the quarter, the company took delivery of two new vessels with total capacity of 5,000 TEUs and had a net addition of 9,000 TEUs of chartered tonnage.
At the end of the first quarter, A.P. Moller-Maersk, parent of Maersk Line and Safmarine, had 16 multipurpose vessels and 539 container ships – 250 owned and 289 chartered -- with 2.1 million TEUs of capacity.
An additional 41 container ships and four multipurpose vessels are on order. One container vessel and one multipurpose vessel are expected to be delivered this year.