Keller proposes carriers pool ships

Keller proposes carriers pool ships

Keller

   Former NYK executive Peter Keller suggests container-shipping companies could pool ships, much as they do with container chassis, so vessels could be finely controlled to meet rising or falling demand without causing huge swings in prices.
   “Why not pool ships? Why not create an industry utility, owned by the lines, to manage vessel supply by major trade lane?    These utilities would insure sufficient assets are available to meet trade lane demand,” Keller explained in remarks prepared for the Virginia Maritime Authority in Norfolk on Thursday. He was unable to attend and his remarks were read by Hayes Howard, chief executive officer of American Shipper.
   “Ships today are a generic commodity,” according to Keller, who retired at the end of March as executive vice president and chief operating officer of NYK Group Americas Inc. “While we may paint them different colors and have varying stack and hull art, the ships are generally the same based upon the trade lanes — very large sizes of 10,000 TEUs and over in the Asia/Europe, large 6,000- to 8,000-TEU ships in the transpacific; Panamax, 5,000 TEUs and mediums in the Atlantic and so on. Larger trade lanes could have two or even three pools. The pools could be run as independent utilities for the trade and increase and decrease supply as demand warranted.
   “As all pool members would have access to space, adjustments to meet trade needs could be more effectively managed to insure demands were met without creating serious overcapacity.”
   Keller, who is heading his own consulting firm, Peter I. Keller and Associates, has been a strong advocate of chassis pools and was founding chairman of its operating arm, Consolidated Chassis Management which operates a half dozen chassis pools around the country.
   He said there would be a number of issues to implementing a ship pooling scheme. But he noted the rail industry has successfully grappled issues around common-use assets through the creation of TTX Co. and the liner industry is doing so through chassis pools.
   “Such a change would also necessitate an evolution in our regulatory scheme. We would need to reshape the regulatory framework in a positive way that fosters trade and stability in one of our nation’s primary resources, international trade. Changes would need to be inspired in how we plan our trades and supply requirements to insure demands are met efficiently. With technology that is not a difficult matter today, if we have the will,” Keller said in his prepared remarks. ' Chris Dupin