Wallenius Wilhelmsen says car carrier demand outstrips capacity

The company notched up EBITDA of $438m over the first quarter, of which shipping contributed $366m, logistics $46m, and government $34m.

The solid figures came despite shipping volumes and available capacity being negatively impacted by re-routeing away from the Red Sea and the bridge collapse in Baltimore which affected US east coast operations, said Lasse Kristoffersen, President and CEO.

In the US, the company re-routed cargo to alternative ports on the east coast but the 5,234-ceu vehicle carrier, Carmen, was held up in Baltimore until April 26. The bridge disaster made little difference to the first-quarter figures, the company said, but will have negative impacts in Q2 and possibly beyond.

A 2% fall in high-and-heavy cargo in the first three months over the preceding quarter, down to 25%, was offset by an improved trade mix. Shipping volumes decreased by 10% quarter-on-quarter, mainly due to the Red Sea situation, but also increased congestion. However, the market remains tight, demand still outstrips tonnage capacity, and all vessels are fully utilised, the company said.

No less than 8% of available trading days were affected by congestion over the quarter, with waiting times at key ports continuing to create challenges that are likely to deteriorate further. WW said it was doing its best to mitigate these challenges through a steady dialogue with customers and re-routeing to other ports with less congestion when and where possible. A further 5% of trading days were lost as a result of voyages round the Cape.

In the final week of February, the company declared options on four more 9,300-ceu Shaper-class methanol dual-fuel vessels at Jinling Shipyard (Jiangsu) in China, taking the tally to eight ships. The company also holds further options.

Having met its cargo intensity targets for 2023, WW has strengthened its net-zero goals. The company now aims to reduce emissions by 40% by 2030 compared with 2022, Kristoffersen said, and has set 2040 as the net-zero target date.

Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.