News / Japanese lines eye a new shipping horizon and a battle to regain profitability

Significantly greater cost competitiveness is the only way to “defeat” ocean carrier rivals, K Line president Eizo Murakami said today in his new year message to staff.

In the traditional annual motivational messages by the Japanese lines, Mr Murakami, as well as NYK president Tadaaki Naito and MOL chief executive Junichiro Ikeda, commented on the surprise decision in October to merge their container businesses into a joint-venture operation in April 2018.

The Japanese trio say they expect to save $1.1bn a year in synergies from ...