Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

ONE forecast to lose $600m in first year due early IT issues, high fuel prices

6e3c3d86aaf79c7a7d586b6cb72f88ae
New Japanese container line joint Ocean Network Express (ONE) is forecast to lose $600m in its first year of operation with lower than expected volumes caused by issues with its IT systems and higher than expected fuel costs.

In a joint statement by the three shareholders of ONE – NYK, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and K Line – said that the full year result of ONE was forecast to be a $600m loss for year the ended 31 March 2019 compared to a previous of a $100m profit after tax. ONE, which is headquartered in Singapore, started operations on 1 April this year.

The companies said that while synergy savings from ONE had emerged steadily liftings and utilisation after the line started operation had been hit by teething problems with its IT systems.

“Liftings and utilization dropped due to the impact of teething problems immediately after the commencement of services in April of this year. ONE sought to regain lost ground during the peak season from July to September, but liftings and utilization remained lower than the outlook because the negative impact remained on its main Asia-North America routes and Intra-Asia route,” the three companies said.

Sign up for the - Smart Ports & Smart Carriers - session at the Seatrade Maritime Middle East 

In addition on the cost side ONE has been hit by higher bunker prices, which have impacted the results of companies across the container shipping sector.

The teething problems, which they said were now solved, related to the new company’s IT systems. “Booking reception and documentation operations were delayed because ONE staff were not completely familiarized with the newly introduced IT system, and the staff were shorthanded. This caused significant inconvenience for customers. Issues such as the staff’s skill level and personnel shortages have already been addressed, and their operations have returned to normal,” the statement said.