Speaking to reporters on a conference call yesterday,
Freight rates, he said, have come down to a level which is "too low", coinciding with a rise in costs at container shipping lines, while a slew of new ships entering the market eats into the massive piles of cash built up by the sector as global lockdowns were lifted.
Habben Jansen's tepid outlook marks a major downturn from the highs of recent years, when the container shipping sector went through an unprecedented boom, notching in more profit during the three years from 2020 than in the previous six decades combined.
But demand has slumped over the last year and freight rates have tumbled back to pre-pandemic levels, while fears grow over the huge oversupply of vessels ordered during the pandemic boom.
(c) 2023 City A.M., source