Great Eastern plans to enter container shipping sector
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;
