Germany’s Johs Thode has finally exited the shipowning business.
The Hamburg-based shipowner is understood to have sold its last vessel, the 1,118-teu Hanse Fortune (built 2006).
The container feeder vessel was the last of four vessels to be sold in the past few weeks.
Details of the transaction remain unclear, but German financial sources said the companies that owned the Thode ships were declared insolvent and the vessels have been hived-off by administrators.
In March, Thode sold two boxships, the 1,049-teu Hanse Endurance and Hanse Energy (both built 2008), to SITC of China for $7.8m each.
Its last bulker, the 27,800-dwt Hanse Gate (built 2004), was sold around the same time for $4.7m.
The disposal of its fleet raises questions about the future of a German company with a 129-year-old history in the shipbroking and ship management business.
The company has been run by a third generation since 2006, when Sebastian Steinbrecher and Patrick Behrens took over as managing owners.
Attempts to contact Thode for comment were unsuccessful.
Johs Thode is described as "a very old shipping name" that was among the first to enter the container shipping business in the sixties.
Since then, it has focused on containerships, multipurpose carriers and bulkers.
