Investment manager Transport Capital has terminated a brief interlude in the container segment with the sale of its last feedership.

The Philip Clausius-led company has offloaded the 1,732-teu Cape Nati (built 2009) for about one-fifth less than was achieved by a similar vessel sold two months ago.

The Cape Nati reportedly fetched about $5m in what is described as a bank-driven deal. In contrast, the 1,700-teu Stellar Wakamatsu (built 2010) sold for $6.8m in March.

Singapore-headquartered Transport Capital obtained around the same price in January for the 1,732-teu Cape Nassau (built 2010), then one of two containerships under its management.

Renamed Acacia Rei, the Cape Nassau — with a special survey due — was sold for $6.8m to interests linked to Qingdao Pengteng International Ship Management of China.

Dire prospects

The low price for the Cape Nati reflects the dire employment prospects for handysize containerships, where there is a growing portfolio of unemployed vessels.

The Cape Nati is redelivering from its current charter in June and does not have onward employment.

"You have to price in idle time. Nobody really wants these ships these days," one broker said.

Philip Clausius is managing partner at Transport Capital. Photo: Marine Money

The sale has been facilitated by keeping the ship with its current shipmanager Colombia Shipmanagement. This is expected to avoid problems with crew changes which have made it difficult to complete other vessel sales.

It is understood the Stellar Wakamatsu still has not been delivered to its new German owner several weeks after it was sold, due to problems with crew changes.

Benchmark low

While the price for the Cape Nati sets a new low benchmark for the sector, brokers expect containership values to fall further.

"It is very reasonable to expect that in the short term every concluded secondhand sale will set a new low," broker Braemar ACM said.

"Once those benchmarks are set, we expect this to pull in more buyers who are currently on the sidelines."

Sale-and-purchase activity for containerships slowed to a trickle in recent weeks.

Braemar said in a quarterly review: "Financing has become more difficult and the prospect of a V-shaped recovery perhaps more remote.

"We remain optimistic that buyers will re-enter the market in greater numbers once crew changes and inspections become less restricted. However, it is not so easy to be optimistic on prices."