While this ship is full, Maersk Line still has 20 of its vessels laid up.
Maersk Line’s chief Nils Andersen said cargo volumes are depressed after shipping companies lost between US$20 billion and US$30 billion collectively last year. “The biggest issue last year wasn’t the fact we had ships laid up and a decline in global trade, the biggest issue last year was that freight rates went down dramatically,” he said. Rates fell by around 30 per cent at their trough last June, although there has been some recovery since then. “It’s still tough, although we’re seeing some increased activity in the last couple of months.” In the depths of the global crisis and plunge in commodity prices early last year hundreds of ships were laid up around the world amid fears that global trade could almost grind to a halt. Maersk still has about 20 vessels laid up.