'The liner shipping industry needs its customers to understand that rate rises are critical for the long term health of international trade in general'

摘要

Ocean carriers are hurting, and hurting badly, as cargo volumes continue to fall year-on-year and freight rates head south. First quarter 2009 profits - or lack of - posted by companies, such as Maersk Line, OOCL, APL, Hapag-Lloyd and Hanjin Shipping, provide real evidence of the blood that the industry is losing. It was red ink absolutely everywhere and the comments used by management in announcing the said figures were all of the same tone. Niels Andersen, the ceo of the AP Moller-Maersk group, summed it up: 'These are very extraordinary circumstances and the outlook for the rest of this year is subject to considerable uncertainty,' he told investor analysts and the press in a teleconference announcing the results. 'A full year negative result cannot be ruled out.'