Shock! MSC executives once again expressed a rare view on the market!

Sunny Worldwide LogisticsIt is a logistics company with more than 20 years of transportation experience, specializing in markets such as Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It is more of a cargo owner than a cargo owner~

Bud Darr, executive vice president of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world's largest liner company, recently said at the Marine Money Week in Manhattan that different crises are becoming the "new normal" and he urged everyone in the value chain and supply chain to learn from Lessons learned, increase supply chain investment to prepare for shocks. Industry

Don’t pretend you understand all the threats, said Bud Darr, MSC Group’s executive vice president of maritime policy and government affairs. Some problems are really difficult to foresee, such as the epidemic, which is not even the same as the so-called "black swan" that cannot be predicted.

According to Bud Darr, large-scale investment to increase capacity and build a larger fleet is one of the secrets of MSC’s success, which is exactly what MSC has been doing in recent years.

In the past three years, MSC has expanded its shipping capacity through crazy purchases of second-hand ships. It has purchased more than 300 second-hand ships in total, with a total capacity of more than 1 million TEU and a value of US billion, far exceeding its competitors.

According to the latest data from Alphaliner, among the top 100 global liner companies in terms of shipping capacity, Mediterranean Shipping Company ranks No. 1, operating a total of 835 ships with a total shipping capacity of 5.978 million TEU, including 536 owned ships and 299 chartered ships, with an unprecedented market share. 20.0%.

In addition, MSC has orders for 100 new ships, with a total shipping capacity of nearly 1.196 million TEU.

He emphasized that "everyone in the value chain and supply chain has to make this investment. So whether that means buying more trucks, more warehouses, or more ships."

There are signs that many of MSC's competitors agree with this analysis. Although analysts have repeatedly warned liner companies not to repeat the mistakes of the past, ordering too many new ships has led to "overcapacity".

Alphabliner data shows that 246 new ships were delivered in 2024, with a total capacity of 1.6 million TEU.

Alphabliner said, “Although deliveries in 2023, 2024 and 2025 are two to three times higher than the historical average and newbuilding prices are very high, the ordering frenzy is not over yet.”

He believes that over time, liner companies have adapted to how supply chains are run.

“Having the flexibility to add space where there’s demand, coupled with building a good team around you that can solve problems, may help you, especially the latter,” Bud Darr said.

Another way MSC is trying to better prepare for unexpected events is by taking control of management of 70 container terminals around the world.

“You can’t control the weather, you can’t control the water diversion, but what you can do is have more control over the operations of the terminal.”

Bud Darr said, "Because when you verticalize your business, you have more control over it and you can help your network adapt to bad situations."

In late summer 2022, the two major ports in the West, Los Angeles (LA) and Long Beach (LB), were blocked due to congestion and container backlogs, causing shippers to ship large quantities of goods to other ports.

According to Bud Darr, it has nothing to do with the boat. on the contrary,This is about the land-based part of the supply chain,Mainly due to the inability of the land-based segment to cope - due to a shortage of truck drivers and warehouse workers due to the lockdown, as well as a surge in goods caused by Americans shopping online during the lockdown.

"We haven't forgotten how to operate ships," he said. "In fact, the terminal operators have done a great job. Our largest terminal in LA/LB is operating at 120% capacity. We could have called 7,000 ships instead of what we were doing at that time." 700 ships, but the containers cannot be unloaded because there is no place to pile them on the shore.”

“So I think it’s really important to encourage our business partners to also really think ahead and do their part to make their supply chains more resilient”.