Shipping line reduces speed

One of the world’s largest container shipping lines says bunker costs now account for over 50% of its vessels’ operating expenditure. A senior official of the French container transport and shipping company CMA CGM predicted that “‘most shipping lines” would start steaming at “‘economic speed to minimise bunker fuel consumption.”

CMA CGM said in November that the company had decided to cut the speed of ships on services between Asia and Europe. It said the move was needed to help cut bunker consumption and estimates that sailing at slower speeds could cut fuel bills by as much as 40%. Bunker prices in Asia have almost doubled in 12 months, with 380 centistoke (cst) bunker fuel reaching a high of $514 per metric tonne (pmt) in early November.