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Displaying items by tag: Profits Up

The world’s largest container shipping line, Maersk, saw profits spike during second quarter pandemic lockdowns as declining volumes were offset by higher freight rates and reduced operating costs.

Parent company A.P. Moller-Maersk (APMM), writes LloydsLoadingList, reported improved profitability across all businesses during Q2. APMM attributed its success to “agile capacity deployment, cost mitigation initiatives and adaption to changed customer needs, with higher ocean freight rates and lower fuel costs helping mitigate the decline in ocean volumes.

Maersk reported that East-West volumes fell 14.9% year-on-year in the second quarter but this was offset by average freight rates on the services rising 8.2%. And, while loaded volumes on North-South services dropped 18.6% in the period, average freight rates increased 5.2%.

Total ocean operating costs decreased by 16% to $5.2 billion in Q2, driven by lower network costs including bunker and time charter costs, reported APMM, with “active capacity management in response to the lower global demand partly offsetting the impact of lower volumes”.

Overall group revenue decreased by 6.5% year-on-year in Q2 to $9.6 billion, mainly driven by a volume decrease of 16% in ocean loadings and a 14% drop in handling at its gateway terminals.

For further analysis click here of the giant container operator. 

Published in Ports & Shipping

Esailing & Virtual Sailing information

The concept of e-sailing, or virtual sailing, is based on a computer game sailing challenge that has been around for more than a decade.

The research and development of software over this time means its popularity has taken off to the extent that it has now become a part of the sailing seascape and now allows people to take an 'active part' in some of the most famous regattas across the world such as the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Sydney Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup and some Olympic venues too, all from the comfort of their armchair.

The most popular model is the 'eSailing World Championship'. It is an annual esports competition, first held in 2018 and officially recognised by World Sailing, the sports governing body.

The eSailing World Championship is a yearly competition for virtual sailors competing on the Virtual Regatta Inshore game.

The contract to run the event was given to a private company, Virtual Regatta that had amassed tens of thousands of sailors playing offshore sailing routing game following major offshore races in real-time.

In April 2020, the company says on its website that it has 35,000 active players and 500,000 regattas sailed.

Virtual Regatta started in 2010 as a small team of passionate designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs gathered around the idea that virtual sailing sports games can mix with real races and real skippers.