YANGMING PREDICTS LOWER COSTS
Taiwans’ Yangming Marine Transport said that it will benefit from lower fuel costs and more efficient container vessels this year.
The carrier’s new 5,500-TEU vessels are being delivered for operation in the transpacific and Asia/Europe trade this year, replacing smaller vessels. In March, Yangming took delivery of the fifth 5,500-TEU ship in a series of seven new sisterships. The remaining two are expected to be delivered by December.
For the company, the new vessels will cut down ship operating costs by about NT$160 million ($5 million) a year, Yangming said. “Meanwhile, these high-speed vessels will shorten the sailing turnover and henceforth enhance the ability of cargo soliciting.”
The Taiwanese shipping line said that the decrease in bunker prices of US$20 per ton can also save about NT$600 billion ($18 million), based on a consumption of one million tons of bunkers a year.
Yangming said that these factors “will sharpen Yang Ming’s competitive edge in the tight marine market.”
Yangming is one of many carriers that are introducing large containerships in the east/west trades this year.