Clarksons Platou is giving decisions by Maersk Line and MSC to slow-steam next year positive reviews.
The move by the boxship giants to add capacity and slow down on their Asia-Europe routes is an overall positive for the liner segment, Clarksons' Frode Morkedal said, as it shows companies will use speed as a tool to deal with the expected higher fuel prices brought on by IMO 2020.
"Even though the network will go slower, (Maersk) will likely improve its ability to meet delivery times in case of congestion and unfavorable weather and as such improve the reliability from a customer perspective," Morkedal said in a Thursday note.
The two companies, both in the 2M alliance, announced their plans Wednesday. Both cited congestion at major ports was becoming an issue, with Maersk announcing they would be cutting eight port calls in hopes the changes will improve reliability.
The changes on both carriers will start in March.
Morkedal said Maersk's trips would be five days longer — 84 days versus 79 — increasing vessel demand by 6% and saving 1% in unit costs.
The decision, he said, would be good for the Danish company's inland service.
"For a carrier like Maersk Line, if you aren’t able to deliver a reliable ocean product it’s hard to convince customers to give more orders for inland transport services and cross sell logistics services," Morkedal said.
