Container ship owners are bagging higher rates and longer charters as the Red Sea crisis and Chinese New Year drive demand.
Charter rates for small and medium-size vessels of between 1,100 teu and 6,500 teu rose by 4.9% week on week as of 18 January, according to the New ConTex index.
The boxship market has been pushed higher by operators seeking vessels as Red Sea traders or as extra loaders from Asia to Europe.
Stronger cargo volumes out of Asia are also fuelling demand for tonnage ahead of the Chinese New Year in early February.
The robust market is evident in the increased fixtures for larger sizes of container ships.
Japanese tonnage provider Nissen Kaiun has fixed the 8,530-teu Hakata Seoul (built 2010) with South Korean liner operator KMTC for two years at $31,000 per day.
That follows the earlier fixture by Ocean Network Express. The Japanese owner is understood to have sublet the 15,258-teu ONE Focus (built 2024) to AP Moller-Maersk for what is said to be a short period.
Ongoing threat
The ongoing Houthi threat in the Red Sea is stimulating demand from liner operators for extra loaders to fill the gaps in schedules due to longer transit times.
Tailwind, the shipping division of supermarket chain Lidl, has been among the more active players. The German operator has taken the 5,043-teu CSL Manhattan (built 2005) for a round voyage from Asia to Europe
The vessel is reported taken for three months at about $22,750 per day — an increase of about $5,000 per day compared to the rate just a month earlier.
The surge in demand is also lifting levels for traditional panamaxes, nearing the $20,000 per day mark.
Maersk is reported to have taken two Chinese-owned vessels, the 4,380-teu Ren Jian 25 (built 2009) and Ren Jian 26 (built 2010), for six to 12 months at $19,000 per day. Before Christmas, the rate would have been below $17,000 per day.
Brokers are undecided whether the surge in rates marks a short-term feature or the start of a longer-term recovery.
“Short-term improvements in rates for certain vessel types suggest there are some good opportunities in the market,” the New ConTex commentary noted.
“However, the overall volatility (and now uncertainty) indicates that the commercial shipping industry may continue to experience fluctuations in the near term,” it concluded.
