“K” LINE EXECUTIVE WARNS AGAINST 9,000-TEU SHIPS

“K” LINE EXECUTIVE WARNS AGAINST 9,000-TEU SHIPS

“K” LINE EXECUTIVE WARNS AGAINST 9,000-TEU SHIPS

   Before ordering giant containerships of 9,000 TEUs or more, shipping lines should carefully consider the impact on inland transportation operations and service levels, a senior executive of “K” Line warned.
   “We need to seriously consider a number of consequences, as this is more than just a matter of ship size,” said Zenzaburo Wakabayashi, executive vice president of the Japanese shipping group, at the Containerisation International conference in London Tuesday.
   “Container vessels of close to 9,000 TEU or even bigger have recently been tabled,” he said. “Will this make the best sense?”
   “As someone who is reasonably concerned about the future of the industry, I would want to be reasonably careful about this important subject before endorsing any new mega-size scheme,” Wakabayashi said.
   Infrastructure areas to be considered include terminal facilities, yard space, gantry crane capacity and productivity, chassis logistics, computer systems and inland transportation, he said.
   Besides expected scale economies in the cost of slot on board mega-vessels, Wakabayashi cautioned that such vessels may adversely impact service quality, as three or four days would elapse from the time the first container is unloaded in port to the time the last container leaves the port after being discharged from a 9,000-TEU ship. About 10 double-stack trains would have to be arranged to move the inbound containers on board one such ship running in the transpacific trade, he estimated.
   “Unless those problems can be solved through infrastructure improvement, I think it would be extremely difficult to simply accept and welcome such a trend towards jumbo-sized ships as an answer for improving service,” Wakabayashi said.
   “K” Line has ordered a series of 12 post-Panamax vessels of 5,500-TEU, and has been conservative in the size of vessels it orders when compared to the likes of Maersk Sealand, P&O Nedlloyd and Hyundai Merchant Marine. China Shipping Container Lines is believed to be close to confirming an order for vessels of 9,000-TEU capacity.