Two containerships from the fleet of Reederei Schepers have found new owners.
The German-managed, 4,256-teu Elisabeth-S (built 2009) and the 2,546-teu Anna-S (built 2008) have been sold in deals totalling more than $18m.
The Elisabeth-S is understood to have been sold to Israel’s XT Shipping for a reported $10m.
The vessel, renamed Lisa, is understood to have been fixed for five years to Maersk in a scrubber-related deal. It is one in a series of traditional panamax boxships built at China’s Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.
The Anna-S has been sold to German owner Reederei Foroohari for $8.3m, according to brokers. It was one in a series of sub-panamaxes constructed at Jiangsu Yangzijiang.
Schepers has lost management of several vessels in recent years as the ships have been sold, but it retains control of six containerships of between 2,546 teu and 3,380 teu.
Managing director Jan Schepers said his company had been successful in establishing new ownership structures for certain vessels in its fleet. That has enabled it to retain management of vessels including the 3,398-teu Tim S (built 2005) and Adelheid S (built 2006), which were sold earlier in the year for around $7m each to Nordic Hamburg.
New partners
Schepers said the company plans to slowly take on additional secondhand ships with new partners, to grow its managed fleet.
The latest deals add to a list of vessels sold by Schepers in the past 12 months after insolvency proceedings were initiated for some of the KG (limited partnership) owners of the ships.
Last year, the company sold the 4,256-teu Lena-S (built 2010) and Rudolf Schepers (built 2009) to the Bunnemann family’s Asiatic Lloyd, which renamed them ALS Juventus and ALS Juno.
Then, in February this year, bankruptcy petitions were filed for three other KG-owned vessels in the Schepers fleet, including the 3,398-teu sub-panamax Tim-S (built 2005) and the 2,546-teu sisterships Anna-S and Johannes-S (both built 2008).
Charter rates for smaller containerships have so far failed to follow the recovery of larger ships. Two-year charters for vessels of 2,500 teu have risen to more than $10,000 per day and 3,500-teu vessels are at $11,700 per day, according to the New ConTex index.
Rates for traditional panamax vessels of 4,250 teu are especially strong at $14,569 per day for a 12-month charter. That has resulted in a rise in values in this category, where Belgian shipowner CMB has sold the 4,132-teu Grouse Hunter (built 2006) to Simatech Shipping of Dubai for a reported $9m.
Brokers said asking prices for more modern panamax boxships have risen to around $13m.
