Maersk idles ships, turns to Latin America, Africa to grow

DENMARK's Maersk Line is increasingly turning its focus to serving the trade between Asia and Latin America and Africa.

"It's really the west and the old economies that have a growth issue," Maersk Line chief Eivind Kolding told London's Financial Times. "It's not the rest of the world."

Maersk Line, he said, was preparing to lay up ships to meet slowing demand. "There will simply be too much capacity in the market, so our response is that we take out some capacity from the start of October."

Many of the ships that Maersk Line has on order over the next two years are designed to meet growing African and Latin American demand, he said.

"The tonnage that we have on order and will get delivered over the next two years is very much suited for the South America and Africa market, so that's the direction in which we already are moving," Mr Kolding said.
(Source:www.schednet.com)