Port operators shun mega-carriers on back of crippling construction costs

These ships are draining public funds.

Port operators are questioning the feasibility of using extremely massive container ships for global trade. According to an article by industry-based writer Bob Jaques published in PSA International's newsletter "At the Helm", an unprecedented rise in container ship sizes could drain public funds as ports struggle to accommodate these massive carriers.

Container ships are now tipping the scales at close to 20,000 TEUs of capacity, a fivefold increase from just 4,000-TEU ships of the 1990s. The article in the PSA International magazine even states that there is talk of developing 22,000-TEU and 24,000-TEU vessels.

"While large vessels may present cost-per-slot savings, these are gradually being counterbalanced by crippling construction costs required to create ports that can accommodate these giant vessels," argues Mr Jaques.

“It must be concluded that public resources are being spent just to allow those container lines which canafford the huge investment in such mega-carriers to achieve a cost advantage over their competitors,” said Ulrich Malchow of the Bremen University of Applied Sciences, in the article.