Bertram Rickmers-controlled Asian Spirit Steamship Co (ASSC) aims to grow its containership fleet to about 40 feederships.
The Hamburg-based shipowner is plotting further orders after fixing the first in a series of eight eco-feeder containership newbuildings under construction in China.
The 1,162-teu Spirit of Kolkata and Spirit of Chennai are scheduled for delivery in the coming weeks and have been taken on long-term charters at a significant market premium.
Delivery was expected to be earlier this year, but the delay to the prototype vessels works in the shipowner’s favour due to the improving charter market, ASSC managing partner Clasen Rickmers said.
The first two Spirit vessels are understood to have been fixed with a major line for up to three years at twice the current spot market rate for ships of this size.
For the first two years, the vessels are believed to be earning about $12,500 per day, with an option for a third year at $14,000 per day.
This is a significant premium over the spot rate of about $6,600 per day for older feederships of a similar size, such as those of the CV-1100 design.
Market sources have reported that the vessels have been fixed to Gianluigi Aponte’s Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), although ASSC managing director Ulrik Kriete was unable to disclose any details about the charterer.
While commonly described as Bengalmax vessels, Rickmers is marketing the ships as Eco16-types. That reflects their dwt of 16,000, which is closer to a larger containership of 1,700 teu in capacity.
ASSC has committed to taking eight of the 10 scrubber-fitted Eco16 ships ordered at Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding in 2016 for an estimated price of between $20m and $22m each.
Two others were booked by Malaysian domestic boxship player MTT.
ASSC is looking at further orders in the feeder containership sector.
It is very close to ordering up to four slightly larger boxships to those booked so far, according to Bertram Rickmers, who is executive chairman of family holding company Brick Holding.
“We want to increase our fleet to 20, 30, [or] 40 feeder vessels,” said Kriete, who is also managing director of Brick Holding.
Premium features
ASSC is targeting growth in the 1,100-teu, 1,800-teu and 2,700-teu segments, Kriete said, reflecting the management's strong belief in the feeder containership sector.
He said the higher charter rate is due to the vessels’ modern features.
These include the ability of the scrubber-fitted Eco16 ships to carry an average 40% more container intake compared with existing ships, while the fuel consumption is much lower.
“We want to see how the ships are performing in the market,” Clasen Rickmers added.
“We have finished sea trials and it looks good. They are running very smoothly.”
The feederships could form the backbone of 2020 Seaways, a project to build a fleet of feeders, for which ASSC has recruited former Rickmers Maritime Trust chief executive Soren Andersen.
A photo caption in this story has been amended since publication to reflect that Bertram Rickmers is chairman of Brick Holding.
