Mumbai: The Great Eastern Shipping Company, India's biggest private ocean carrier, will "evaluate" entering the container shipping sector, a senior company executive said. This, according to an industry expert, could be a diversification strategy aimed at mitigating the risks associated with oil trade as the world pivot towards green energy, cutting the quantum of crude and petroleum products shipped by sea.
"We will evaluate the container (shipping) space. It's clearly on our radar but not at the moment," Great Eastern Shipping general manager Rahul Sheth said during an earnings call on August 1, which has not been previously reported.
Rahul Sheth is the son of Ravi Sheth, a director of Great Eastern Shipping and managing director of Greatship (India) Ltd, its oilfield services unit. Ravi Sheth's brother Bharat Sheth is the deputy chairman and MD of Mumbai-listed Great Eastern Shipping Company.
"At the immediate moment, the market is very hot because of the Red Sea crisis. The container space is probably the one shipping sector that's benefited the most even more than the (petroleum) product end. But you don't know how the Red Sea crisis will play out. If it reverses, there could be a change in the earnings of that sector. We are countercyclical players. And right now, the cycle is very high. So, we (should) probably be cautious to any decision we take towards this sector," Rahul Sheth said.
"We are more likely to enter the market when it's not doing well, and that is our track record. We are countercyclical investors; typically, we would tend to buy when the market is weak, not when it is strong," added G Shivakumar, executive director and CFO.
While a potential entry into container shipping may take some time, Great Eastern Shipping's intent could be just what Indian exporters have wanted for long. Weighed by the steep freight hikes since the pandemic which continues with the Red Sea crisis except for a brief period of normalcy, exporters have been lobbying the government for a national container carrier to reduce their dependence on global box lines.
State-run Shipping Corporation of India Ltd is the only Indian carrier present in the mainline container shipping trade, with just two ships.
"We will evaluate the container (shipping) space. It's clearly on our radar but not at the moment," Great Eastern Shipping general manager Rahul Sheth said during an earnings call on August 1, which has not been previously reported.
Rahul Sheth is the son of Ravi Sheth, a director of Great Eastern Shipping and managing director of Greatship (India) Ltd, its oilfield services unit. Ravi Sheth's brother Bharat Sheth is the deputy chairman and MD of Mumbai-listed Great Eastern Shipping Company.
"At the immediate moment, the market is very hot because of the Red Sea crisis. The container space is probably the one shipping sector that's benefited the most even more than the (petroleum) product end. But you don't know how the Red Sea crisis will play out. If it reverses, there could be a change in the earnings of that sector. We are countercyclical players. And right now, the cycle is very high. So, we (should) probably be cautious to any decision we take towards this sector," Rahul Sheth said.
"We are more likely to enter the market when it's not doing well, and that is our track record. We are countercyclical investors; typically, we would tend to buy when the market is weak, not when it is strong," added G Shivakumar, executive director and CFO.
While a potential entry into container shipping may take some time, Great Eastern Shipping's intent could be just what Indian exporters have wanted for long. Weighed by the steep freight hikes since the pandemic which continues with the Red Sea crisis except for a brief period of normalcy, exporters have been lobbying the government for a national container carrier to reduce their dependence on global box lines.
State-run Shipping Corporation of India Ltd is the only Indian carrier present in the mainline container shipping trade, with just two ships.
