Taipei, August 1, 2024—Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, Taiwan’s second-largest container carrier, has announced significant changes to its senior management team alongside plans to expand its fleet. The company aims to counter a recent drop in its global rankings by contracting more newbuild vessels.
Kuen-Rong Pai, previously the Senior Executive Vice President, has taken over as President and General Manager, replacing Shu-Chin Tu, whose term ended on August 1. Additionally, former Chairman Cheng Cheng-Mount has been replaced by Tsai Feng-ming, a professor and Chair of the Department of Shipping & Transportation Management at National Taiwan Ocean University.
The Taiwanese government, which holds a 31% stake in Yang Ming, expressed support for the management changes and the company’s plans for fleet expansion. Li Meng-yen, Taiwan’s Minister of Transport and Communications, confirmed the government’s backing for newbuilding contracts to increase Yang Ming’s capacity.
Currently, Yang Ming has five vessels on order, totaling 77,500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the second smallest order book among the world’s top 10 container carriers. The company’s share of the global container fleet has decreased from 2.6% to 2.3% over the past year, reflecting its need to expand to maintain its competitive position.
Yang Ming was once ranked 8th in global carrier fleet size but has since fallen to 10th place as of May 2024. Despite these challenges, the company’s stock price rose following the management changes, although it saw a 6.4% drop on Sunday amid broader market declines due to global economic concerns.
The Taipei-based carrier reported an operating profit of TWD 7.9 billion (USD 243 million) for the first quarter of 2024, following two consecutive quarters of losses.
Source: Yang Ming, Alphaliner
