Maersk Line, the world's largest container shipper, may extend its market share and lift earnings by taking delivery of the 10 biggest cargo vessels ever built just as a global shortfall in capacity increases carriage rates.

The price of transporting manufactured goods by sea is likely to jump 10 percent in 2013 as demand outpaces new vessel supply by the third-widest margin in a decade, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd. Maersk will begin receiving a fleet of the world's largest and most cost-effective container ships the same year following a $1.8 billion order last month.

"The timing was optimal," Eivind Kolding, chief executive officer of A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S's container unit, said in an interview at his Copenhagen headquarters. "Many other container lines have difficulties placing new orders at present as they're still under some financial pressure after the crisis."

The contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. includes vessels able to carry 18,000 containers, enough for
18 million flat-panel televisions. They'll have a 26 percent per-box cost advantage over the largest ships currently used on Asia-Europe routes because of improved fuel efficiency and the higher number of customers sharing expenses such as port fees.

Demand for container transport will increase 9 percent in 2013 as vessel capacity grows 6.4 percent, according to Drewry.
In the previous decade a 2.6 percentage-point margin would rank after only 2010, when shipping rebounded from the recession, and 2004, when Chinese exports surged.

Eoin Treacy's view A sharp contrast can be observed between container shipping stocks and dry bulk shipping stocks. The former have performed more in line with railroads and other transport stocks in reflecting the pick-up in global trade over the last two years. Dry bulk shipping shares have for the most part failed to break out of their bases and remain under pressure. This is primarily because of the number of new ships that have been delivered over the last few years.

Maersk, Cosco Pacific and Teekay Shipping Corp all remain in consistent medium-term uptrends defined by progressions of higher reaction lows.

In contrast, the Bloomberg Dry Ships Index remains within a two-year base and a downward bias has been evident over the last year. A sustained move above 2000 would be required to question potential for an additional test of underlying trading.