Another shipping company giving out huge year-end bonuses? Here comes the official response!

Affected by the epidemic, several major ports in the United States continue to be congested, and today's shipping market can be described as a world of ice and fire. On the one hand, containers are in short supply, and the rapidly rising shipping costs are suffocating the shippers, while on the other hand, shipping companies have become the biggest winners, making a lot of money. Some people say that 2021 is the golden age of the global shipping industry, but it is also the darkest year for many foreign trade companies.

Shipping companies are making money, so naturally, employees will get more benefits. This year, the year-end bonuses in the shipping industry are starting to "roll up", and the huge bonuses are the envy of many cross-border sellers! As early as the end of December last year, there were media reports that Evergreen Shipping issued year-end bonuses to employees, with an average bonus of 40 times the monthly salary. Many employees exclaimed: I have never seen so much money! Following Evergreen Shipping, Yang Ming Shipping also decided to increase the year-end bonus for employees, with bonuses as high as 12 times the monthly salary.

Wan Hai Lines’ year-end bonus plan exposed, official response is here!

After Evergreen Marine and Yang Ming Marine Transport announced their year-end bonuses, Wan Hai Lines, one of the three largest container shipping companies in Taiwan, also attracted much attention. Recently, it was revealed that Wan Hai Lines' year-end bonus plan is 12 times the monthly salary plus NT$1 million (about RMB 230,000), which is equivalent to 34 times the monthly salary for the average salary of grassroots employees.

According to an insider, Wan Hai Lines originally set a relatively low year-end bonus. After Evergreen Marine's high year-end bonus was exposed, Wan Hai Lines decided to re-formulate its year-end bonus distribution plan, with bonuses up to 12 times the monthly salary plus NT$1 million, an increase of at least 30% over the previous one. It must be said that Evergreen Marine has really set a good example.

Shortly after Wan Hai Lines' year-end bonus plan was exposed, Wan Hai's official response came. Its assistant manager and spokesperson Su Limei said: No matter how many rumors there are outside, the company will not confirm them. Because the salaries and bonuses of employees are confidential, only the employees themselves know, and the bonus distribution plan will not be announced internally. However, the company will definitely treat employees well and use employee performance as the distribution standard. At the same time, it also called on the outside world not to speculate anymore.

The huge year-end bonuses of shipping companies are the truest reflection of the global shipping market. Port congestion, worker shortages, difficulty in getting containers, and soaring shipping prices have naturally led to rising profits for shipping companies.

With cumulative revenue of 52.6 billion yuan , Wan Hai Lines ended 2021 with a perfect ending

Wan Hai Lines recently announced its latest performance information for 2021. Its consolidated revenue in December was NT$ 23.252 billion (approximately RMB 5.351 billion), a monthly increase of 1.55% and an annual increase of 107.17%; the cumulative consolidated revenue for the whole year was NT $ 228.014 billion (approximately RMB 52.474 billion), setting a historical record .

We can see from the data in the above figure that although Wan Hai Lines' performance in December 2021 was higher than in November, due to severe congestion in the West Coast ports of the United States in November and December , the waiting time for ships to enter the port was extended , making it difficult for it to provide a stable flight volume, resulting in its performance in December being lower than in August , September and October .

Against the backdrop of continued congestion at ports in the western United States, Wan Hai Lines has also introduced countermeasures, which is to shift its business focus back to the Asian route layout and seize business opportunities brought by short-sea routes during the peak season in the fourth quarter .

With the arrival of the new year, challenges facing Wan Hai and the shipping industry also come.

According to Wan Hai Lines , due to the recent spread of the Omicron variant, global epidemic prevention measures have been upgraded, and ports across Asia have also introduced new regulations one after another, which has brought considerable challenges to maintaining ship schedules and crew dispatches .

At the same time, the number of newly confirmed cases in the United States has hit new highs in recent days. The shortage of dock workers and the reduction in port operating efficiency have become inevitable facts.

In addition, the Korea Fair Trade Commission recently fined 23 shipping companies for conspiring to raise freight rates. The agency believes that these 23 shipping companies have violated the Fair Trade Act in the past 15 years and manipulated the freight rates of multiple routes between South Korea and Southeast Asia, and decided to impose a fine of 96.2 billion won on them.

According to the editor, among the 23 shipping companies punished this time, there are 12 Korean local shipping companies and 11 foreign shipping companies , including Korea Shipping, Samra Marine , and the "Three Giants of Taiwan" Wan Hai, Yang Ming and Evergreen.

Wan Hai said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that its share of the fine is about $10 million. Although this will not have a significant adverse impact on Wan Hai's performance or operations, it said it will have further discussions with lawyers to protect the company's rights and interests.

Challenges and opportunities coexist. Wan Hai recently acquired another container ship.

Frequent ship acquisitions make Wan Hai Shipping the world's tenth largest shipping company

According to relevant media reports, Wan Hai Lines is further expanding its shipping capacity.

On December 29, 2021, Wan Hai Lines issued an announcement, announcing that it would spend US$46.5 million (approximately RMB 300 million) to acquire a 2,535TEU feeder container ship, and the seller was Japan's Lucretia Shipping. It is understood that Lucretia Shipping currently has a total of 3 container ships, and the only container ship that meets the description of Wan Hai's announcement is the "ST Ever" built in 2011. Prior to this, the ship was leased to Evergreen Marine, which is also one of the "Taiwan Big Three" in November 2020.

In addition, Wan Hai Lines recently announced that it has leased two container ships with similar capacity, with specifications of 2741TEU and 2220TEU, for a lease period of about three years, with rents of 42.26 million and 43.5 million US dollars respectively, which are close to the acquisition price announced by Wan Hai this time. In this way, although the cost of acquiring ships is higher, the actual price is not much more expensive than leasing. The three-year lease price of a container ship is close to the acquisition price, which can also be seen from the side that the current shipping market is really "hard to find a ship".

In the same month that Wan Hai announced the ship purchase, the company purchased a 1,774TEU second-hand feeder container ship from Bremen Trader Shipping Limited and Sinou Shipping Pte., Ltd. for approximately US$39 million per ship , respectively. The ships are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of this year.

Public reports show that in December 2020, Wan Hai Lines announced plans to acquire second-hand ships with a capital of US$369 million, and has purchased 12 container ships so far. In addition, Wan Hai Lines also received 11 newly built container ships in 2021, with a total capacity of 22,640 TEUs. It is estimated that this year, Wan Hai's expenditure on booking container ships and purchasing second-hand ships will reach US$888 million (approximately RMB 5.57 billion).

According to Alphaliner data , Wan Hai Lines is already the world's tenth largest container shipping company. The company currently operates a total of 147 ships, including 85 owned ships and 58 leased ships, with a total capacity of more than 410,000 TEUs.

Wan Hai Lines

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