Maersk Line to scrap eight vessels

Danish ocean carrier Maersk Line said the vessels are deployed on the TP10 and TP18 services and represent about 1 percent of the carrier’s overall fleet.    Maersk said it will scrap eight, 4,360-TEU Panamax ships currently deployed on its TP10 and TP18 services.
   The ships are the SL Lightning, SL Charger, SL Intrepid, SL Comet, SL Eagle, SL Racer, SL Meteor and SL Mercury.
   “These vessels represent roughly 1 percent of our fleet, so this is a small but meaningful capacity reduction, which will contribute to achieving a better balance between supply and demand for Maersk Line,” said Maersk Line Chief Operating Officer Søren Toft.
   Maersk Line said that in the coming years, it expects to recycle more vessels than in previous years as more vessels are approaching their economical end of life. “With Maersk Line’s fleet of more than 600 vessels, owned and chartered, any decision to recycle depends on a broad set of variables – not least the state of the market,” the company said.
   Four of these vessels will be scrapped in India, while the other four will be scrapped in China.
   The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has been critical of Maersk’s scrapping practices in India. The NGO said in a press release on its website the opposition parties in Denmark have “called on the Danish Government to ensure that Maersk’s end-of-life vessels cannot be broken down in beaching yards.”