Despite higher costs born by container carriers to divert tonnage around the Cape of Good Hope, 2024 on track to be third most profitable year in liner shipping history!
At the nine-month stage, net profits for the leading carriers are already above the full-year results for both 2020 and 2023, the only other years to come close to this year’s performance outside of the peak COVID periods of 2021 and 2022.
Significantly higher expenses as a result of the hostilities in the Middle East have not prevented carriers from generating large profits. Diversions around the Cape of Good Hope have led to a near 20% increase in ton-miles year-on-year, pushing expenses up in many categories for lines particularly in the area of fuel and container handling.
Between January and September, number two carrier Maersk registered a 23% year-on-year increase in bunker costs directly related to the re-routing of its ships, after burning 8.5 million tonnes of fuel, a 16% rise on the same pre-Houthi attacks period in 2023.
The introduction of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) on January 1 has also added another smaller boost to carrier expenses, with Maersk paying just under $130m towards carbon offsets so far this year, with no equivalent expense last year.
Source: Alphaliner
