Bailed out lines grew capacity share

Bailed out lines grew capacity share    Ocean carriers that received financial bailouts from investors, shareholders or governments in 2009 have used their reprieves to build market share, according to a note Monday from the maritime news service Alphaliner.
   In its weekly newsletter, Alphaliner posited the theory that lines such as Chile's CSAV, France's CMA CGM, Germany's Hapag-Lloyd and Israel's Zim have increased their share in certain lanes after enduring a torrid 2009.
   CSAV recently completed a deal in which German ship owners from which the line has chartered vessels agreed to raise $773 million in new equity for the CSAV in exchange for a stake in the line. Alphaliner pointed out that the line has vastly increased its operated capacity in the last 12 months, by 46 percent or 132,000 TEUs. That's allowed its capacity share of the global container market to rise nearly 50 percent, from 2.1 percent to 3 percent.
   'This has rankled some of its competitors, with Hamburg S'd slamming the bailout and was reported to be cutting business with banks that assisted in the CSAV bailout,' Alphaliner said. 'There appears to be a lack of a level playing field as carriers that suffered the largest market share declines were the same ones which did not receive direct financial support.
   'Apart from CSAV, a number of other carriers that were bailed out in high profile restructuring moves last year also increased their market share, although not to the same extent. This includes CMA CGM, Zim and Hapag-Lloyd, which received financial support in various forms from shareholders and creditors last year.'
   APL, which offered a rights issue to existing shareholders that raised $1 billion in 2009, has grown its share of capacity by the second highest percentage after CSAV, followed by CMA CGM, Hanjin Shipping and MSC.