Maersk Line CEO: 11 New Ships Likely in Q2 2015

Maersk is considering ordering 11 container megaships in the second quarter of 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

"We need to grow with the market and increase our capacity by 425,000 containers from 2017 onward for three years," Maersk Line Chief Executive Soren Skou told the Journal. "It's very likely the first order will be 11 Triple E size ships. That's what we need for a weekly round trip from Asia to Northern Europe."

Maersk has not ordered new ships since 2011, when it ordered 20 Triple-E class vessels, each capable of hauling 18,000 containers. The company reported a profit of $2.3 billion  in 2014, a 50% profit increase in 2014. Bloomberg reported that Maersk Line's shipping volumes grew 6.8 percent last year, and that the company now has a global market share of 15.7 percent, compared to 15 percent six months ago. The Danish company has managed to post these numbers during a challenging time for the industry. Earlier this month, shipping rates hit an all time low, while three shipping lines have filed for bankruptcy in February alone.

“Over the past 10, 15 years prices have come down on average one to two percentage points a year. We need to build a business that can sustain that kind of deflationary pricing market,” Mr. Skou told the Wall Street Journal. “I can’t have a strategy that is based on a hope that prices will magically start increasing.”

It has been an eventful week for Maersk. Earlier today, the Munkebo Maersk became the largest ship to ever sail up the River Thames. Yesterday, the company divested its stake in Denmark's largest bank.