MISC Bhd, Southeast Asia’s largest shipping line by market value, intends to sell its 16 container vessels within about six months as it exits unprofitable cargo-box operations.
The prices for the ships will depend on market conditions, the Kuala Lumpur-based company said in an e-mailed reply to Bloomberg News questions on Nov 27. Any vessels not sold in the period will be kept in “a short re-activation mode” until December 2012, including manning and maintenance, MISC said.
The shipping line will also look to sub-lease chartered-in vessels or return them to owners early, it said. The contracts on 10 of the company’s 14 chartered-in ships expire by the end of June. It didn’t say how long the other four contracts run.
MISC, controlled by Malaysia’s state oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd, said last week it will exit container shipping after the unit accumulated US$789 million of losses in three years. The company garners less than 20 per cent of sales from the sector, with the remainder coming from tankers and energy- related businesses.
Only two of MISC’s 16 owned container vessels are able to carry more than 5,000 boxes, according to its website. The rest are smaller, reflecting the shipping line’s decision in 2010 to exit the Asia-Europe market and instead focus on intra-Asia routes.
The group also owns or leases 29 liquefied-natural gas ships, 83 petroleum tankers and 28 chemical tankers, according to its website.
The shipping line said on Nov 25 that it may take a US$400 million charge from closing the unprofitable container unit, which would contribute to an expected full-year loss.
The shares of MISC climbed 2.6 per cent, the biggest intraday increase since Nov 23, to RM5.95 at 11.46am today. The stock has declined 29 per cent this year, the biggest drop among the 30 stocks in the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index. -- Bloomberg
The prices for the ships will depend on market conditions, the Kuala Lumpur-based company said in an e-mailed reply to Bloomberg News questions on Nov 27. Any vessels not sold in the period will be kept in “a short re-activation mode” until December 2012, including manning and maintenance, MISC said.
The shipping line will also look to sub-lease chartered-in vessels or return them to owners early, it said. The contracts on 10 of the company’s 14 chartered-in ships expire by the end of June. It didn’t say how long the other four contracts run.
MISC, controlled by Malaysia’s state oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd, said last week it will exit container shipping after the unit accumulated US$789 million of losses in three years. The company garners less than 20 per cent of sales from the sector, with the remainder coming from tankers and energy- related businesses.
Only two of MISC’s 16 owned container vessels are able to carry more than 5,000 boxes, according to its website. The rest are smaller, reflecting the shipping line’s decision in 2010 to exit the Asia-Europe market and instead focus on intra-Asia routes.
The group also owns or leases 29 liquefied-natural gas ships, 83 petroleum tankers and 28 chemical tankers, according to its website.
The shipping line said on Nov 25 that it may take a US$400 million charge from closing the unprofitable container unit, which would contribute to an expected full-year loss.
The shares of MISC climbed 2.6 per cent, the biggest intraday increase since Nov 23, to RM5.95 at 11.46am today. The stock has declined 29 per cent this year, the biggest drop among the 30 stocks in the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index. -- Bloomberg
