Container lines could remain in the red next year unless drastic action is taken.

    Drewry's warning came amid the suggestion leading lines are in for a painful time if they plan to sit back and wait for weaker firms to fail. 
 
    In its latest quarterly Container Forecast, Drewry said: “The leading operators on the Asia to North Europe trade have yet to make any plans to withdraw capacity this winter and as it stands, spot freight rates have little chance of increasing unless significant structural alterations are made.

    “There is every chance that operators will lose significant money in 2012 unless the fundamental trade supply/demand dynamics are pulled into equilibrium.

    “Vessel lay ups, which will be unwelcome news for independent shipowners, would be an obvious answer, but the amount is still minimal at the moment and it seems unlikely to reach the levels previously experienced in 2009 and 2010.”

    Drewry says it does not expect balance to return to the market for five years due to the heavy ordering of newbuildings during 2011.

    Neil Dekker of Drewry said in a statement: “The biggest ocean carriers seek the economies of scale from ever larger super post-panamax ships, but in doing so, the industry runs the severe risk of introducing too much capacity at the same time and ruining the already fragile supply/demand balance.

    “The boom and bust cycle is now an annual occurrence, rather than something that happens every four-five years.”

?source:asiasis?