Mega ships equal mega profits says Maersk

Denmark’s Maersk says it expects the strong container market to continue to yield record profits for the rest of the year, reports Reuters. It cites high demand for containers from China to the US for its “exceptionally high performance”.

There are currently not enough ships to meet demand and Chief Executive Soren Skou told a media call, “The situation today is that our customers are trying to meet a very, very high underlying demand, while at the same time rebuilding stock.”

Container ships are now waiting up to 16 days outside the Port of Los Angeles and imports into North America from Asia rose 40% in the first three months of the year.

“This is a huge problem for our customers,” the CEO said. “It’s a mess and it will take some time to clear.”