Italian businessman and shipping magnate Gianluigi Aponte might be ready to stage a big coup. The Italian Mediterranean Shipping Company, which he founded half a century ago, is on the verge of taking the number one position as the world's biggest container group, overtaking AP Moller-Maersk.
"I think it's a perfect opportunity to bring the best of the two worlds together," Soren Toft, who joined the private company as chief executive in December after 25 years at Maersk, was recorded as saying. "It's about taking my experiences, my insights and my foresight and combining it with the great attributes of MSC... we are privately owned, we have the long lens."
Newsnationusa.com reports that Toft may have arrived at the right moment to grow the Italian-Swiss group, which has embarked on an aggressive expansion, as it takes advantage of the pandemic that has delivered record profits to the shipping lines on the back of surging freight rates largely caused by the online shopping boom.
The profitable run for shipping lines follows more than a decade of overcapacity that forced consolidation and capacity-sharing alliances. MSC is highly secretive, but annual group revenues were likely in excess of $25 bln before the pandemic as it is set to grow larger than rival Maersk in capacity terms with the biggest order book for new tonnage.
