CONTRARY Alphaliner's view that a Hapag-Lloyd CSAV merger is an unlikely outcome of current talks, Lloyd's List Intelligence thinks it is promising because the German carrier is bent on growing big enough to challenge the world's big three, Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM.
"It is my goal that we can catch up with the top three. I may not be able to achieve this during my time, but perhaps make a step in that direction," Hapag-Lloyd CEO Michael Behrendt told Reuters.
Hapag-Lloyd has the world's sixth-largest containership fleet with 723,804 TEU. With a CSAV merge, the combined fleet would be million TEU, making it the world's fourth biggest carrier.
While still behind Maersk (2.5 million TEU), MSC (2.2 million TEU) and CMA CGM (1.5 million TEU), such an entity would still be ahead of Cosco and Evergreen Marine, which are now ranked fourth and fifth.
Mr Behrendt said such a deal could mark the start of further consolidation as the German shipping line attempts to close in on the top three carriers.
But Paris-based Alphaliner is sceptical, saying the Chilean and Germany container carriers have very different shareholder blocs and CSAV has suffered repeated losses in recent quarters. And while their routes do not overlap, the two lines also lack a strategic vision.
