There is a “war” for market share between local shipping lines as the industry continues to bleed in the face of vessel oversupply and depressed freight rates, said Captain Salvatore Sarno, chairman of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
Addressing guests at the company’s annual year-end bash in Johannesburg last night (Thursday), Sarno was candid about the challenges and visibly upset about what he termed the “ridiculous allegations” of price-fixing collusion between locally based shipping lines.
Referring to the recent raid by 35 Competition Commission representatives on the offices of MSC – along with Hamburg Sud, Maersk, Safmarine, Pacific International Line and CMA CGM – he reiterated that he was confident that MSC would be found not guilty at the conclusion of the three-month investigation.
“The best they could come up with as so-called proof of collusion – after two days of searching through every e-mail, every document in our office – was an e-mail notice sent by the Ports Regulator to all locally based shipping lines in 2005 about tariff hikes at the port. The notice just happened to mention all the lines,” said Sarno.
He added that the mainstream media, who “splashed their front pages with the news” would likely not report on the outcome of the investigation which he was adamant was “baseless”.
Sarno said the shipping industry was facing an economic disaster following the “glory days” pre-2008 when lines put in orders for mega-vessels such as MSC’s Oscar class 19 000-TEU vessels. “We’re now seeing an average R2 million to R3 million loss per route, using these vessels,” he commented.
He believes the only way to win the current war is to ensure superior service. “We have been serving the South African market for 46 years and we believe our reputation, and our commitment to the local market, speaks for itself,” said Sarno.
Meanwhile it was also announced that MSC regional manager, Mike Vanhear, would be retiring at the end of the year. He told FTW Online that the company’s client services manager, Nikki le Grange, would take on some of his responsibilities after he steps down.
