Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping group, is benefiting from an apparent flight to safety following the bankruptcy of its South Korean rival Hanjin, by picking up new customers on major trade routes. 

Jakob Stausholm, chief strategy and transformation officer at Maersk, said the Danish group was trying to help Hanjin’s customers and had opened a new trans-Pacific route to absorb the demand. 

“Right now, we are experiencing a lot of customer demand that we are trying to support,” Mr Stausholm said. “A lot of customers are seeking solutions from our side.”

A Maersk official added: “Customers want a company that is financially strong and so that is why they are coming to us.” 

Hanjin Shipping’s bankruptcy has sent shockwaves through the container shipping industry, which is suffering from close to record low freight rates amid chronic overcapacity. 

In terms of the container numbers involved, Hanjin’s bankruptcy is more than six times larger than any previous shipping collapse, noted Alphaliner, a shipping data provider. 

This has led Gerry Wang, chief executive of container ship leasing company Seaspan, to tell Bloomberg that “the fallout [from] Hanjin Shipping is like Lehman Brothers to the financial markets”. Seaspan manages four ships for Hanjin and has another three chartered out to the South Korean operation.

Dozens of ships from Hanjin — the world’s seventh-largest container line — are now stranded at sea, containing an estimated $14bn in cargo. 

But Mr Stausholm played down the wider impact of the bankruptcy, arguing that such collapses were normal when companies are struggling — as much of the container shipping industry is at present. 

“We shouldn’t see it as that dramatic,” he argued. “It’s correct that it’s a very competitive industry, and it’s correct that freight rates have hit an all-time low. But, when companies are not generating cash flow, then it becomes difficult to continue.”

Maersk Line has consistently been the most profitable large container shipping group in recent years. However, it slipped to a net loss in the second quarter this year, posting a negative profit margin of 3 per cent in the period. Despite this, Maersk still estimates its margin is five percentage points better than the average of its main rivals. 

Many at Esplanaden, Maersk’s Copenhagen headquarters, believe the bankruptcy of Hanjin shows market forces are finally being allowed to work on the industry, according to people close to the group. Some executives had felt that, for too long, container groups were irrationally propped up by their family or conglomerate owners when they should have been allowed to fail and let the industry rebound — as happened in the US airline sector. 

Mr Stausholm declined to comment on rivals other than to say “we see an industry in a very tough situation”. Maersk Line’s owner — the conglomerate AP Møller-Maersk, which is Denmark’s largest company by revenues — is nearing the end of an intensive strategic review that could result in its break-up.

(The Financial Times)