World Bunkering > News > Industry News > Maersk Line: 'Slow steaming here to stay'

Danish shipowning giant AP Moller – Maersk’s main container operation Maersk Line says that an internal review of slow steaming carried out in June concluded it should carry on with slow steaming even when the market recovers. A company statement suggests it has reduced speeds by 20%, which would indicate service speeds for the large vessels on the long-haul routes of about 19 knots.

The line’s most compelling argument for slow steaming, at least when selling the concept to  shippers, appears to be that schedule reliability improves because slow speed allows vessels to continuously adjust speed in order to deliver the cargo exactly on time.  Or in other words they have the extar speed availablble Maersk Line says it has a goal of 95% schedule reliability and is, according to Drewry, already well under way. From April to June 2010, it had a 77% on-time performance score with the closest competitors ranging from 59% - 64%.

The 28 June review by the Liner Management Board in Maersk Line decided  slow steaming will continue, “still with a keen eye for satisfying consumer demand”.

A statement says that with prospects still murky for the global economy the company is “setting out a clear course for slow steaming”. 

On the future of slow steaming the statement stresses: “It’s here to stay. It reinforces Maersk Line’s status as most reliable carrier. It was easy to argue in favour of slow steaming back when the crisis wreaked havoc in international box shipping. Not only does slow steaming save energy and cut CO2 emissions, it also took boxes out of circulation, thereby stopping rates from tail-spinning. Slow steaming in fact absorbed 4.1% of the global fleet at one point, which in turn helped balance supply and demand, according to Alphaliner.”

It continues: “Now, with the global economy still shaky, but maybe improving, a formula for slow steaming’s future has been found.”

Maersk Line CEO Eivind Kolding is quote as saying: “For Maersk Line slow steaming is here to stay because it remains a win-win-win situation. It is better for our customers, better for the environment, and better for our business. We believe we serve our customers best by steadily improving schedule reliability, by keeping fuel costs down, and by continuing to improve on our carbon footprint. The cost savings will enable us to further invest in innovation and improved service, for example with more efficiency at terminals,” Kolding says.
 
Maersk accepts that  some customers have complained about longer inventory time - with Maersk Line ships essentially acting as floating warehouses – the carriers study found that that slow steaming helps prevent bottlenecks on terminals. The carrier claims: “Maersk Line customers now know with a higher degree of certainty when their boxes actually arrive, and they can thus plan the forwarding better and more precisely.”
 
Maersk has provided some technical information on slow steaming. It says that a ship which reduces speed by 20% will use 40% less fuel, thereby reducing CO2 emissions correspondingly. To maintain the same service frequency and compensate for a lower average speed, one to two extra vessels are added per route, or string. Despite the extra vessels, slow steaming has over the last 18 months reduced Maersk Line’s CO2 emissions by about 7% per container moved.