New York-listed Euroseas will bag a chunky profit on the sale of a 20-year-old feeder container ship.
The Aristides Pittas-led company has sold the 2,788-teu EM Astoria (built 2004) for $10m.
Delivery of the vessel to an undisclosed buyer is scheduled for June.
The vessel is chartered until then to AP Moller-Maersk at a rate of $20,000 per day.
But the shipowner and the charterer had a mutual agreement to terminate the charter about eight months early.
“This sale capitalises on the current relatively stronger vessel values and saves the company the cost of the upcoming special survey of the vessel,” Pittas said.
The company would book a gain on sale of more than $5.5m, which amounts to about $0.80 per share.
Container ship values have risen significantly across almost all sectors and age categories since the beginning of the year.
Older vessels have shown the most strength, according to Veson Nautical analyst Rebecca Galanopoulos Jones.
Values for 20-year-old handysize boxships of 1,750 teu are up by 43% since the start of the year, from $6.99m to $8.6m.
Charter of EM Hydra
The increase in values has been supported by climbing earnings.
That has enabled Euroseas to extend the charter of the 1,740-teu EM Hydra (built 2005) with French liner operator CMA CGM for 10 to 12 months at $13,000 per day.
One-year period earnings for vessels of this size have jumped by about 39.4%, from $9,280 per day on the first of January 2024 to $12,940 per day today, according to Veson.
This is largely due to the ongoing disruption in the Red Sea and the rerouting of vessels around the Cape of Good Hope.
According to VesselsValue trade data, container ship journeys transiting around the Cape of Good Hope increased by nearly 200% in the first quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2023.
However, Veson predicts that, despite the ongoing conflict, as more and more container newbuildings hit the water, vessel supply will continue to outpace demand and going forward this will put pressure on rates.
