| GLOBAL TRADE |
SINGAPORE’S home grown container line, Pacific International Lines (PIL), is set to move up a league following the delivery of newbuildings by 2018, according to managing director Teo Siong Seng.
PIL is set to add 12 new ships over the next 18 months which will lift the shipowner into the 500,000-TEU club, reports TradeWinds.
Mr Teo, seen by many as the farther figure of modern day Singapore shipping, said the new vessels will position the company as a “B division” player in the sector.
“We will be comfortable to operate at this size and there are only a handful of companies like this,” he told Singapore’s The Straits Times.
“At the moment, we don’t have any ambition to go into the next phase as we’re still a private company and capital is limited. We may in future, but I think we still have to be quite cautious for now.”
Mr Teo described the past 12 months in the container line sector as one of the worst with the industry witnessing “five weddings and a funeral”, he told the daily Singapore newspaper.
“The market has not seen such volatility in its history. But it’s at times like these that it is all the more important for us to remain focused, to not panic and try to find ways to survive,” he told the Straits Times.
Mr Teo attributed PIL’s resilience to its nimbleness, saying the company’s advantage is its “agility and mobility”.