Andersen warns of box line failures

But he cast doubt on whether much needed consolidation would happen.
The whole industry would benefit from a further round of rationalisation but reducing the number of carriers would not be easy, he said.
Despite a grim set of quarterly results from container shipping, AP Moller-Maersk would consider acquisition opportunities.
“If there is a chance to expand at the right price then, yes, maybe we would look at that,” Mr Andersen told Lloyd’s List.
Lines such as Maersk have first hand experience of the problems of integrating other carriers with the takeover of P&O Nedlloyd a few years ago providing competitors with a chance to expand their market share.
“Consolidators get punished at the outset,” Mr Andersen said in reference to those difficulties.
Nevertheless, cheap assets in the form of companies or ships could become available if, as is widely anticipated, some businesses go under.
With so much surplus capacity, “a number of players will not survive”, Mr Andersen, who expects it to be years before supply and demand is restored to balance, said.
“We are not optimistic about the earnings potential for container shipping in the short- to mid-term.”
He refused to blame any single group for driving container shipping deep into the red.
“We’ve all been too optimistic, some less than others maybe but there has been a very bullish view of the future,” Mr Andersen said.