22 more Maersk ships to fly Hong Kong flag

Wednesday, 25 September 2019

Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk is strengthening its presence in Hong Kong by more than doubling its Hong Kong-registered fleet from 17 to 39 ships.

Maersk Shipping Hong Kong managing director Dipak Dash confirmed the move, saying one of the reasons for choosing Hong Kong was that ships flying the Bauhinia flag paid preferential dues at mainland ports, reported the South China Morning Post.

Flagging the ships in Hong Kong will also give the company other financial and economic benefits, including the ability to take advantage of the city's low tax base and tax not being withheld on interest payments.

Shipping companies with Hong Kong-registered vessels also have easier access to mainland crew and Maersk confirmed it was looking at the possibility of recruiting some.

"We'll carry out the expansion in recognition of Hong Kong's position as a leading international maritime centre, its economic attractiveness to shipowners and its wider recognition as a quality flag-state with efficient service," Dash said.

"The decision reflects AP Moller-Maersk's commitment to the region and the fact that we believe the advantages provided by Hong Kong enable us to better service our customers."

The 17 ships Maersk has on the Hong Kong register total about 770,000 gross tonnes. They comprise seven large container ships varying between 6,700 TEUs and 8,600 TEUs and 10 feeder container ships of 1,100 to 2,000 TEUs.

Ownership of the seven large boxships was transferred to Maersk Shipping Hong Kong in the first half of this year. Some of the ships were previously registered in Britain, the United States and the Netherlands.

The additional 22 ships will increase the Maersk tonnage to about two million gross tonnes, making its fleet one of the largest on the Hong Kong register.

Chick King-fai, the Marine Department's general manager in charge of the ship register, said that by comparison, Cosco (HK) Shipping, the local offshoot of China Ocean Shipping (Group), had the most tonnage with four million gross tonnes. In second place was Cido Shipping (HK) with vessels totalling 3.8 million gross tonnes and Orient Overseas Container Line came third with vessels of about 2.9 million gross tonnes.

The shipping register is one of the maritime industry's success stories. After languishing at about 5.6 million gross tonnes in 1997, by yesterday it had grown to 1,634 ships of almost 52 million gross tonnes.

Of the 22 new ships that will fly the Hong Kong flag, 14 will be owned and operated by Maersk Shipping Hong Kong and eight by Safmarine, a Maersk subsidiary based in Belgium.

The vessels will be added to the Hong Kong shipping register on delivery from the shipyards over the next 2½ years. They will comprise 10 post-panamax container ships capable of carrying up to 7,500 TEUs, seven panamax 4,500-TEU boxships and five 18,000 deadweight tonne multipurpose ships that can carry both containers, bulk and project cargo.

Dash said no decision on where the ships would be deployed had been taken.

The container ships are being built at shipyards in South Korea, while the multipurpose ships are being built in the mainland.
Aside from Hong Kong, Maersk also has ships registered in Singapore, Britain, Denmark and the Marshall Islands.