Carrier Losses Continue in Q3 of 2016

Posted on Nov 2

Maersk Line reported a $ 116 million loss for the third quarter of 2016 due to a sharp drop in revenue, and expects to post a much lower result that its 2015 figure of $ 1.3 billion. Maersk’s year-to-date loss is now at $ 230 million.In August OOCL reported a first-half year loss of $ 57 million, with revenue dropping further in the third quarter of the year.A few days ago the three large Japanese liners K-Line, NYK and MOL announced their merger plans after reporting combined first-half year operating losses of $ 484 million for the fiscal year starting April 2016. Full year expectation for these carriers are net losses of over $ 2 billion for NYK and about $ 900 million for K-Line, while MOL expects a net profit of about $ 69 million after reducing its previous outlook by half.The impact of falling revenues extends to the ship-owner/charterer sector where Hong Kong based Seaspan announced a third-quarter loss of $ 184 million, with Hanjin’s bankruptcy being a major reason for the loss. Seaspan’s year-to-date loss of $ 140.5 million compares to earnings of $ 123 million in the same period last year.The numbers reflect the current operating environment of container carriers that are moving increased volumes at lower revenue on their major trade lanes.