More container tonnage has been sent to the beaches in the past few weeks than had been sold for recycling in the previous nine months, according to new figures from Braemar ACM.
In all 24 ships totalling 45,500 teu were sold for demolition in the 30 days to 6 November, according to the shipbroker's Demometer.
Those sales swell the tally of containership capacity sold for scrap so far this year to 49 ships, totalling 89,500 teu.
Lowest level for a decade
But that is a fraction of what has been demolished in recent years and the sector remains on course to end the year with scrapping at its lowest levels for nearly a decade.
The majority of boxships being sent for demolition in recent weeks have been feeder vessels of between 1,000 teu to 2,000 teu, a segment where rates continue to slide.
But strong scrap prices and the upsurge in newbuilding deliveries could result in larger container vessels being scrapped in the coming weeks.
“We expect to see larger vessels arriving on the market in order to take advantage of strong scrap prices at a time when [the charter] periods offered by charterers are becoming shorter and at ever lower levels,” Braemar ACM said.
The shipbroker lists several feederships sold to demolition buyers, including the 1,162-teu Petalidi (built 1993) to India for $470 per ldt and the 1,684-teu Zanzibar (built 1996) sold on private terms to Pakistan.
Private deal
Other vessels sold on an “as is" basis include the 1,613-teu Bella J (built 1995) for $455 per ldt with delivery in Hong Kong, while the 2,078-teu Magnavia (built 1996) sold in Singapore on private terms.
Boxship owners including Continental Investment Holdings (CIH) of Singapore are selling feeder vessels to take advantage of high scrap prices ahead of the 2020 sulphur cap.
Some observers said the recent surge in sales could boost the total capacity of vessels sold for scrap to about 100,000 teu by the end of the year.
But that would still be the lowest level of scrapping recorded since 2008, according to Alphaliner.
Scrapping remains way beneath the level of previous years, with 431,000 teu demolished in the year to date in 2017, according to Braemar ACM figures.
Alphaliner data reveals the spike in scrap sales in past weeks has done little to reduce the total capacity of ships lying idle, which has risen to a 19-month high of 662,260 teu.
In contrast, newbuilding deliveries have risen so far this year to a three-year high of 1.2 million teu.
