The remarks come three days after A.P. Moller-Maersk , the world's biggest container shipping firm, said it placed a $1.9 billion order with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to build 10 of the world's largest container ships for delivery between 2013 and 2015.
Chief Executive Ronald Widdows, however, did not say how many more ships he would order above the 10 vessels announced last year for delivery in 2013-2014.
NOL, which operates 145 ships with a total capacity of 585,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of container boxes, has total cash of $977 million on hand as of 2010-end.
Widdows said 2011 would be a "normal year" where supply and demand for container ships would both grow by around 6 percent.
The global shipping industry has rebounded strongly from the worst downturn in history in 2009 as the recession hit global trade and forced many companies to lay up ships and cut jobs.
The industry, seen as a key indicator of global economic activity, however, would face a shortage of ships in the coming years due to surging demand, especially in Asia.
"Look at the order book, the size of the ships that are coming in 2013 and 2014, there are not many ships. There better be some more ordering of ships because there is not enough tonnage to meet the demand," Widdows said in an interview at NOL's headquarters in Singapore on Thursday.
The CEO said he does not expect Maersk's order for ten mammoth 18,000 TEU container ships to have any significant impact on its operations or the broader industry.
"It has no play or influence on the dynamics that affect the business anytime soon," Widdows said.
"Their market share in Asia-Europe (routes) is very large, multiples of many other companies. It doesn't really apply to most others in the industry," he added.
Turnover Plan
NOL planned to turn over many of its ships under charter within the next two to three years.
"Because we didn't order many ships in the last decade, we have a lot of charters and a lot of those come due in the next few years," Widdows said.
"It makes sense to continue to purchase ships. Not a lot more, but more. I need the capacity," he added.
Last year, NOL placed a $1.2 billion order for 10 vessels with 8,400 TEU capacity to be delivered in 2013 and 2014 and signed a letter of intent for two 10,700-TEU vessels.
NOL reported a better-than-expected fourth quarter profit of $177 million last week, but warned that the outlook of the industry is uncertain.
Widdows said intra-Asia routes have been taking a lot of capacity from other sectors as trades between China and other countries in the region have sharply increased over the past few years.
The volume of NOL's intra-Asia cargoes accounted for 40 percent of its total capacity last year, compared with just 26 percent in 2003.
