By cutting its count of seafarers and reducing vessels flying its home flag
Jacob Meldgaard tells TradeWinds the plan, which will kick in from 2012, comes on the back of a $50m saving each year since the onset of the financial crisis.
Speaking after the Danish owner wheeled out a fisrt quarter loss Meldgaard said: We have seafarers from Indian, the Filipinos and various EU countries including Denmark. Up to 50 or 60 Danes will be substituted over time by predominantly Filipino and Indian crew.
We have very good crews on all of our ships and we will do this over time in order to get the benefit on the cost.
Torm, which today revealed it has delayed two newbuildings to make it “more resilient” in the present weak market, has around 75% of its fleet registered in Denmark.
We will be looking to see if we can get it more in line with the other major shipping companies in Denmark where it is more 50/50 on average, Meldgaard said.
Further costs will be stripped out by a review of how much Torm pays for various services and goods, the CEO adds.
Copenhagen-listed Torm plunged $45m into the red in the first three months of the year, overturning a profit of $3m a year ago.
While Meldgaard says the loss is in line with Torms own expectations its numbers fall short of analysts forecasts.
Torm, which has forecast a pre-tax loss of up to $125m this year, has a fleet of around 140 ships in the water today.
Source:Tradewinds
