Global maritime firms are starting to take container ships out of operation as rising fuel prices and falling freight rates erode profits, the head of industry leader Maersk Line said on Thursday.
Around 5 percent of the global container capacity, or 800,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), are in lay up, an industry term for taking vessels out of action, said Soren Skou at Maersk’s Singapore offices on his first overseas trip as CEO.
That figure could soon increase to more than 1 million TEUs, a level not seen since 2009 when trade was severely hit by the financial crisis, he added.