German shipowners Reederei Foroohari and Peter Dohle Schiffahrts are expanding their boxship fleets with ships acquired from Evangelos Marinakis-controlled Capital Product Partners.
Stade-based Foroohari has emerged as the new owner of a brace of traditional panamax container ships sold by the US-listed company, as TradeWinds reported earlier this month.
The 5,500-teu Fos Express and Seattle Express (both built 2008) will be delivered in the coming weeks, managing director Bijan Foroohari confirmed.
The ships have been acquired with charters to German liner operator Hapag-Lloyd for two years with an option for a further two years.
The move is part of a fleet renewal that has seen Foroohari and the associated BF Shipmanagement acquire 10 container ships and multipurpose vessels in the past three years.
That includes a shift into larger boxships with the 6,500-teu BF Hamburg (built 2009), which was snapped up in July.
The company operates about 26 multipurpose vessels, heavy-lifters and boxships.
Foroohari is not the only German owner to have picked up vessels as Capital Product winds down its container fleet.
Market re-entry
The Dohle group has returned to the market as a buyer of three large Samsung Heavy Industries-built boxships sold by the Greek shipping company.
The 9,954-teu Aristomenis, Athos and Athenian (all built 2011) are reported to have been acquired by Dohle for $51m each, according to VesselsValue.
The deal includes charters of three years to Hapag-Lloyd at $27,000 per day, with options for a further two years at about $32,000 per day.
German owners have been returning to the newbuilding and secondhand markets.
About 87 secondhand vessels of 4.92m gt, and 42 newbuildings of 1.39m gt, entered the German merchant fleet last year, contributing to more than a decade of fleet decline.
Capital Product is divesting its entire fleet of 15 boxships. The company recently sold the 5,100-teu Long Beach Express (built 2008) to a US buyer as well as the 9,300-teu Akadimos (built 2015).
The private interest of the Marinakis stable, Capital Maritime & Trading, continues to grow in the small container ship sector.
Capital Maritime took delivery this month of two vessels — the 1,809-teu Avios and Androklis (both built 2024) — for charter to Asian liner operators.
The vessels are units number seven and eight in a series of nine gearless Bangkokmaxes that the Greek owner ordered in 2021 and 2022 from Ulsan-based Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
