Delphis, the container division of Belgian shipowner CMB, has fixed a traditional panamax boxship at the highest level this year.
Managing director Maxime Van Eecke believes the market remains on an upward trajectory and expects the next fixture in the market will be even higher.
The 4,255-teu Harrier Hunter (built 2009) was last week taken for eight to 10 months by TS Lines of Hong Kong at $13,000 per day.
Scrubber boost
The vessel operates in the carrier's service between China and Australia.
The rate marks an increase of more than $800 on the prior week's day rate for panamaxes, which in the past month have surged 20%.
Van Eecke said the market is benefiting from the artificial boost in demand as a result of scrubber retrofits. He believes that will support the charter market until the end of the year.
The rate for the Harrier Hunter is about $1,000 per day higher than any recent fixture of a similar ship. For example, the 4,250-teu Tanja Rickmers (built 2009) was also fixed last week but obtained just $11,850 per day.
Van Eecke said the market is benefiting from the artificial boost in demand as a result of scrubber retrofits
The Tanja Rickmers was fixed in the Atlantic where rates are lower, and it may have also had other issues that led owners to offer less for the vessel, chartering sources said.
Scrapping activity
“A lot of lines didn’t want to touch the ship as it had been for sale for a while and banks put restrictions on how long it can be fixed [for],” said one container shipping source.
The market for classic panamax boxships has also been helped by scrapping activity this year.
That looks set to continue with Evergreen preparing to sell four of its 20-year-plus baby panamaxes.
The Asian carrier operates 10 containerships of 4,250 teu each built in 1997 and 1998.
But brokers expect Evergreen will dispose of more older boxships as a series of feeder-size newbuildings are delivered.
Evergreen is in the process of taking delivery of 20 ships of about 2,900 teu for the intra-Asia trades.
Last month, the Taiwanese liner operator took delivery of the 2,910-teu Ever Bless (built 2019), the eighth of 10 wide-beam containerships under construction at Japan's Imabari Shipbuilding Co.
The two remaining ships, the Ever Burly and Ever Blink, will be delivered this summer.
Ten other ships were built by Taiwan's CSBC Corp.
Newbuild deliveries
Their wide-beam profile will enable them to navigate shallower ports encountered in the intra-Asia trade and to enhance their cargo-carrying capability.
Several of them have been retrofitted with scrubbers after delivery.
In the larger boxship sizes, the 4,672-teu RDO Fortune (built 2012) set a new benchmark. It obtained $16,750 per day for an eight to 10-month fixture with Maersk Line.
One month ago, the vessel achieved $15,250 per day for a short charter with Hyundai Merchant Marine.
