Liner companies continue to purge feeder-size tonnage from their fleets despite scrap prices not showing any signs of a recovery over the past week.
Container ship owners were just about the only companies willing to sell apart from two passenger operators and Norwegian reefer specialist.
Swiss liner giant MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, the most prolific seller of ships into the recycling sector in recent months, was reported to have sold two container ships to hand-picked Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) certified yards at Alang.
The 17,400-dwt multipurpose vessel MSC Eagle F (built 2000) was sold for $505 per ldt, or $3.47m, according to latest cash buyer reports.
The ship was acquired by MSC as Skyeagle for $16m in November 2021, one of many older ships that the company bought during the pandemic bull run with intention for a quick pay-off due to the then sky-high freight rates.
MSC was also reported as selling the 2,398-teu MSC Jemima (built 1994). While exact pricing details for the deal have yet to emerge in the market, broking sources believe it to be around the same level as that of the MSC Eagle F.
Highlighting the drop in pricing in the Indian recycling sector, the MSC-controlled 1,837-teu container ship MSC Uma (built 1998) was sold at $530 per ldt just two weeks prior.
Nevertheless, the widespread availability of HKC-compliant recycling at Alang attracted Green Shipping of Norway, which was reported to have sold the 265,770-cft refrigerated cargo ship Green Freezer (built 1991) to a ClassNK-certified facility.
China’s Fujian Zhonghang Shipping opted for the higher prices being offered out of Bangladesh when it sold its 1,599-teu container ship Jin Yuan He (built 1991).
The has been sold to a Chattogram-based recycling facility that offered $535 per ldt, or $3.6m in total.
Market sources are watching to see where Malaysian regional container player MTT Shipping’s 653-teu container ship MTT Singapore (built 1996) will end up being recycled.
The ship, which was acquired as Heung-A Singapore in August 2021, just before container ship prices spiked, was reported as being sold to cash buyers on an as-is basis in Malaysia. No pricing details have been disclosed.
On the passenger front, Italy’s Moby Lines has sold the 12,200-gt ferry Moby Vincent (built 1974) on an as-is basis in Livorno, with the ship expected to depart shortly for Aliaga in Turkey.
Australia’s Sea Swift sold the 2,430-gt general cargo/passenger ship Trinity Bay (built 1996) sold at $225 per ldt, or $307,000, for recycling at an undisclosed location.
Sea Swift provides cargo and passenger services to remote communities in northern Australia. The Trinity Bay was recently replaced with the 4,180-gt general cargo/passenger ship Newcastle Bay, a newbuilding delivered at the end of 2023 by Indonesian shipbuilder PT Bandar Abadi.
