Checkmate in the Czech Republic

摘要

As any global conglomerate will attest, getting to the top of the business ladder is one thing - remaining there is another. The challenge is easy to understand. The top dog is there to be shot at, and in terms of growth, the operator requires far more business to maintain market share. Big does not always mean beautiful either. But in the container shipping world, the AP M011er Group, dominated by Maersk Sealand, appears to have risen to this challenge well. Over the last three years it has remained on top of the pile by a long way, despite the world fleet growing by a staggering 26%. When CI did its world fleet analysis in November 2000, the group controlled 580,000TEU, or approximately 13% of all cellular ship capacity. This was 72% larger than the second placed carrier, Evergreen. The margin grew to 82% in 2001, with P&O Nedlloyd (PONL) being in second place, and to 87% in 2002, when Mediterranean Shipping Company jumped into second place.