Bulk
carriers are set to bear the brunt of the cutbacks with fifty vessels set to be
removed from its fleet by March 2014.
MOL
said it will be looking to cut around twenty tankers from its operation, while
containerships look to have escaped any cutbacks.
Ships
being targeted are those on spot or short-term fixtures, while those on
long-term charters or COAs look to have escaped unscathed.
The
move is likely to send shockwaves through a shipping industry that was just beginning
to see the glimmers of a fragile recovery.
It
also comes hard on the heels of profit warnings from Chinese giant
Cosco, which last week warned investors it faced a potential $1.5bn loss for
2012.
MOL
says it wants to sell, scrap or return ships and cancel charter contracts in a
bid to reduce its free tonnage from 250 to 180 ships.
The
company also revealed that it plans to transfer sales activities, chartering
and ship operations for about 130 bulkers from Tokyo to Singapore.
MOL
has already moved a number of its activities, mainly tanker-related to the Lion
Republic over the past six or seven years.
In
2006 it established crude tanker operation Phoenix Tankers, which was followed
by a VLCC spot operation the following year.
Since then it has transferred LR1 and LPG and
chemical tanker activities to Singapore and last set up of the Nova VLCC pool
with AP Moller Maersk.
However,
MOL was keen to emphasis that its Tokyo office will “continue to play the major
role in business and ship operations of vessels on mid- and long-term contracts
with Japanese corporate customers”.
Despite the cutbacks MOL will still boast a substantial fleet including some 400 dry cargo vessels, 200 tankers, 69 LNG carriers, 130 car carriers and over 110 containerships.
