Container ship operators basking in record levels of profit are storing up trouble for themselves, according to one cargo owner.

Writing in Investment Monitor, Martin Kaspar, head of corporate development at German pipe maker Frankische Rohrwerke Gebr Kirchner, said these all-time high earnings will contribute to the demise of what he called an “oligarchy” of shipowners.

“Shipping companies made huge profits in 2021, but their conduct in this time will only harbour resentment in the coming years,” he writes.

Lines point to higher-than-expected demand due to a rush for products after the Covid-19 shutdowns, and to logistical problems caused by closed Chinese ports due to renewed Covid outbreaks.

“That this is — at best — only a part of the truth, and that the price explosion of shipping rates isn’t merely on account of a lack of containers, becomes apparent when looking at the quarterly results published by shipping companies,” Kaspar added.

Owners such as AP Moller-Maersk have seen earnings jump nearly fivefold from 2020.

Tradewinds has more on the story.