World’s Biggest Shipping Company Wants More Mergers After Japan

  • Maersk Line says mergers may help more than vessel sharing
  • Nippon, Mitsui, Kawasaki group to control 7% of world trade
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, owner of the world’s largest container line, said mergers like the combination of its three main Japanese rivals provide relief to an ailing industry that has been characterized by over-capacity.

Nippon Yusen KK, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. said on Monday they plan to merge, giving them control of 7 percent of the world’s container-shipping trade. Its the latest example of industry measures to create scale in an effort to adapt to a world in which freight rates have been under pressure since 2007.