Maersk to add mega-ships to fast growing Sino-India loop

MAERSK's South China head Soren Karas said his company will increase the size of its ships deployed on its CHX service that links Shanghai to Chennai in future amid expectations that this market will grow.


Mr Karas told Bloomberg that he sees cargo trade between China and India increasing one-fifth in 2011. "It is an exciting market that has great potential," he said.


At present Maersk Line operates the CHX service with four ships ranging in size between 2,800 TEU and 4,200 TEU, according to ComPair Data.


Its figures show that at the beginning of the year 212,097 TEU of weekly capacity was allocated by shipping lines plying the trade between Asia and the Indian subcontinent and the Mideast, 12.2 per cent more than what was available in January 2010.


But 28.8 per cent of that capacity has been removed from this trade route "since the New Year to manage capacity during the winter slack season," the report said.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)