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| September 2, 2000 | atimes.com | ||
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Southeast Asia
A new era in Asian shipping CHAPTER 4: CALLING CARDS PTP's leading customers Prior to the news that Maersk was moving its transshipment operations from Singapore to PTP, a degree of ill feeling had developed between the national carrier, the Malaysia International Shipping Corporation's (MISC) and PTP, with the latter claiming that MISC had not done enough to help woo it new customers and promote the port. The MISC responded that the PTP had not courted it aggressively enough. MISC had said earlier that efforts were being made to increase its business at PTP, but this was not followed through. In fact, as a member of the Grand Alliance, MISC has so far concentrated its operations in Port Klang, where its consortium partners Hapag Lloyd, P&O Nedlloyd, NYK and OOCL, currently call. The Maersk Group: In the last four months of 2000, Maersk Sealand will move its transshipment hub from Singapore to PTP. The move will see Maersk Sealand putting some two million teus through PTP next year. PTP will become one of the largest ports on Maersk Sealand's global network with all its mainline vessels currently calling at Singapore, except the West Australia and New Zealand services, calling at the Malaysian port. This follows the line's first operations at the port, beginning June 8, with two weekly calls to the US, two weekly calls to the Far East and Mediterranean and one weekly call to Europe. In 1904, Danes Arnold Peter Moller and his father, Peter Maersk Moller, established A/S Dampskibsselskabet Svendborg and bought a second-hand steamer of 2,200 tons deadweight. Eight years later, A.P. Moller established Dampskibsselskabet af 1912 A/S. These two shipowning companies still form the nucleus of the A.P. Moller Group. In 1928 A.P. Moller established a cargo liner service under the name of Maersk Line, linking the US and the Far East. The A.P. Moller Group, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, has more than 50,000 employees and offices in 325 cities in some 100 countries around the world. Besides shipping, the main activities of the group can be divided into oil and gas related activities, industry and shipbuilding, air transport, IT services and retailing. In December 1999 the group acquired the international container business of Sea-Land Service, Inc. to form Maersk Sealand, which now has 325 offices and a combined work force of over 10,000 employees in more than 100 countries. It has more than 250 container vessels and 700,000 containers and its own feeder vessels, as well as trucks and dedicated trains. Advanced EDP systems allow for timely availability of cargo documents and provide customers with accurate round-the-clock, on-line information on the position of any given cargo anywhere in the world. July 1929 heralded the establishment of Maersk's presence in Singapore. The group is now one of the largest Singapore flag shipowners and a leader in liner shipping and logistics activities. All operations are managed at the Maersk Group's own offices, which were started as Maersk Line Singapore Pte Ltd in 1975. This marked the beginning of the growth of the Maersk Group of companies in Singapore. To date, the Group comprises the following main activities, with 1,000 employees on shore and at sea: In 1995, Maersk added to its Singapore activities by transferring its regional headquarters from Japan to Singapore. It is responsible for Maersk's container related business, including local incorporated companies controlled by the A.P. Moller Group east of Suez and west of Hawaii, including Australia and New Zealand. Maersk Logistics Asia Pte Ltd is the regional headquarters for Maersk Logistics in the Asia, the Middle East and Australia. The Neptune Orient Lines (NOL): APL-NOL has a fixed weekly call to PTP as a part of its West Asia Express (Wax) service, serving Asia to and from the Middle East. Four 3500-teu-capacity vessels are deployed on the Wax service and call at the PTP in rotation. Other ports in Wax include Kaoshiung, Hong Kong and Colombo. NOL is a Singapore state-controlled company and the national flag carrier, providing services in more than 100 countries and operating one of the largest container ship and Aframax tanker fleets worldwide. It is also the largest shipping company listed on the Stock Exchange of Singapore with a market capitalization of S$2.21 billion as of August 23, 2000. Some analysts have expressed surprise that Singapore's national line has chosen to call at the very port that is aiming to weaken its county's dominance. They speculate whether the move is a change in policy or merely a move to avoid Singapore's high tariffs. As part of its core business activity, the NOL Group operates a network of container transportation services on major international trade routes. In November 1997, NOL's container transportation division merged with APL Ltd of the US (formerly American President Lines) to create one of the world's largest container shipping lines. NOL, however, incurred huge losses following the US$825-million takeover. Consequently, it incurred losses totaling US$460 million in 1997 and 1998. NOL netted US$93.5 million on revenues of US$4.26 billion in 1999, however, and a bottom line of US$120 million is forecast for 2000. With the APL buyout, NOL obtained a strong logistics brand and presence and it is refocusing its business from the purely physical transportation of goods to an integrated logistics service which covers all parts of the supply chain spectrum. NOL has had to work hard on better integrating its two contrasting halves - a Singapore state enterprise and a private US shipping line. The new entity operates under the APL brand name. Apart from container transportation in the trans-Pacific, Asia-Europe, Mediterranean, Latin America, intra-Asia and Australia markets, APL also provides supply chain management services for international shippers through its subsidiary, APL Logistics. NOL also provides worldwide chartering services in the liquid and dry-bulk trades. Its fleet of tankers and bulk carriers ply world-wide, transporting wet and dry-bulk commodities on contacts of freight, long-term period charters, spot and voyage charters. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, American Eagle Tankers Inc Limited, operates one of the largest fleets of double-hulled tankers in the US Gulf and Caribbean. The NOL Group's diversified fleet of vessels comprises large and small container ships, crude and product tankers, and dry-bulk carriers. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL): At the end of April 2000, MOL upgraded its Japan/Hong Kong/Straits weekly service by beginning a regular calling at Port Tanjung Pelepas (PTP). The service is in addition to its current service in Malaysia which calls at Port Kelang. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. is a marine shipping company with operations in a broad range of fields, including liners, passenger ships, tankers, and bulk and liquified gas carriers. On April 1, 1999, the 115th anniversary of its founding as Osaka Shosen Kaisha, the company merged with Japan's Navix Line Ltd to become one of the world's largest shipping operators with approximately 500 vessels of an aggregate 31 million deadweight tons. The merger was aimed at building the competitive strength needed to survive and prosper in the era of borderless mega-competition. Navix Line's primary business was the transportation of natural resources through its fleet of bulk carriers and tankers. As a result of the merger, MOL strengthened its carrying capacity in these fields. In 1998 MOL formed a global tie-up with APL and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), creating the New World Alliance (TNWA) to provide full-scale services on east-west routes. Today the group includes 329 companies. MOL's advanced logistics network covers Asia, Russia, Africa, South America, Australia, and New Zealand, with links to key east-west routes. In all, it serves about 40 routes all over the world. MOL owns eight container terminals, not only in Japan but also in key ports around the world: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, and Bangkok. Major shareholders include the Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co Ltd, the Sumitomo Bank, Ltd, the Sakura Bank, Ltd, the Industrial Bank of Japan, Ltd, Mitsui Marine & Fire Insurance Co, Ltd, Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co Ltd, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co Ltd, the Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking Co Ltd and the Toyo Trust & Banking Co Ltd. Shares are listed in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Sapporo and Frankfurt. (C) Asia Times Online CHAPTER 5: INVESTMENT IN MALAYSIA |
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