MOL SWITCHES INVESTMENT FROM LINER TO BULK SHIPPING
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has frozen all its investment in the liner
shipping sector for the time being.
"Liner shipping will become good business again in the
future," says MOL President Masaharu Ikuta," but unfortunately it is not
now."
MOL’s merger with bulk specialist Navix Lines on April 1 made it
the largest shipping group in the world. This also pushed up the proportion of group
revenues generated from the bulk shipping.
By contrast, the percentage of group revenues contributed by liner
shipping fell from 48 percent to 40 percent. Current, low investments in liner shipping
are set to reduce the importance of the liner sector still further within the Japanese
group.
Investments in bulk ships and tankers, backed by long-term bulk and
tanker contracts in trade with Japan, are seen as comparatively safer.
Asked whether MOL would be prepared to dispose of or merge its liner division, Ikuta
replied: "I don’t exclude any good opportunity to merge."