Maersk Line CEO Soren Skou said if shippers' demand falls when his company's mega 18,000-TEUers come on steam, older smaller ships will be withdrawn to take up the slack on the Asia-Europe route.
"As we introduce new and larger ships, if the market is not growing we will pull out other capacity to make the balance for us," said Mr Skou in an interview with in-house magazine, Maersk Post.
"We didn't make money on our Asia-Europe routes in 2012, including those served by Daily Maersk," Mr Skou said. "A lack of growth in Europe has curtailed demand; at the same time supply increased.
"However, [Daily Maersk] has been well received and is currently easily the most reliable in the industry. I am cautiously optimistic that in 2013 we will make money in this part of the world," he said.
The company plans to put the first five Triple-E ships into service between Asia and Europe this year, and the magazine notes that it comes at a challenging time with volumes shrinking on the trade lane five per cent in 2012, and expectation of only one per cent growth in 2013, according to Alphaliner.
Maersk does 30 per cent of its business between Asia and Europe, Mr Skou said, adding "the key is to manage capacity - that is to act responsibly to ensure we do not contribute to oversupply in the industry - that can only lead to rates collapsing."
Mr Skou said the mega ships will have the lowest costs in the industry, consuming 35 per cent less fuel than the 13,100-TEU ships they will replace.
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