Photo Gallery The Container Crisis
Container ships and bulk carriers parked off the coast of Singapore: Roughly 450 container ships are now idle worldwide as a result of the crisis -- about 10 percent of the global fleet.
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A Chinese shipyard worker stands near a large vessel under construction at a dry dock in Dalian, northeast China. The real problems for German shipping companies still lie ahead. The orders for new container ships now on the shipyards' books represent a total capacity of 5.3 million TEUs, or about 50 percent more than the current worldwide fleet capacity. Even if global trade recovers by next year, this glut of new ships will create enough excess capacity to depress shipping prices.
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The Port of Hamburg: In the last decade, the northern German city became the world's leading center for the financing and operation of new ships. Germans own 35 percent of the container ships in operation worldwide, and close to 60 shipping banks and financiers are headquartered in Hamburg.
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Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd, founded 160 years ago, became one of the world's leading shipping line operators. But today it finds itself in an existential crisis and needs as much as 1 billion in government loan guarantees to ensure its survival.
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Empty ships parked in Hamburg's harbor: The sense of panic is more palpable here than almost anyplace else in the world.
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Hapag-Lloyed posted a loss of 222 million in the first quarter of 2009 and will need close to 1.75 billion to stay afloat over the next 18 months.
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Shipping companies like Hapag-Lloyd currently receive only about $500 to ship one container from Asia to Europe -- about $300 less than they need to cover their costs. A year ago, shipping companies were still collecting more than $1,500 per container. Still, German consulting firm Roland Berger says the company is "well positioned" for the future.
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Experts at Drewry Shipping Consultants estimate it will take until 2012 before container turnover at the Port of Hamburg and elsewhere around the world returns to 2008 levels.
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