Charter rates for “old” panamax boxships of 4,250 teu have dropped to about $8,000 per day, while their wide-beam rivals of around 5,000 teu are earning more than $15,000 per day.
The disparity is attributed to the limited supply of wide-beam designs that are capable of carrying more cargo and trading to more ports than older narrow-beam vessels.
Their improving fortunes contrast with the growing idle fleet of traditional panamax containerships, which again face an uncertain future.
Wide-beam demand
The 4,957-teu Jadrana (built 2014) — one of 11 wide-beam boxships of the YZJ 5000 design — is reportedly getting $15,250 per day with Israeli operator Zim, albeit for a fixture of just 80 to 90 days.
That contrasts with the $8,000 per day that SM Line is paying to take the 4,255-teu AS Morgana (built 2010) for four to seven months.
The 37-metre beam of the Jadrana gives the vessel more stability than the 32.3-metre beam AS Morgana.
So the wide-beam vessel can carry 3,676 teu when loaded with containers weighing 14 tonnes, while the AS Morgana loads just 2,800 teu of the same weight.
The shallower draught of the Jadrana also means it can trade to more ports than traditional panamax designs.
New market
Some argue that the wide-beam designs, which were only introduced in 2011, have discovered their own market in areas where traditional panamaxes can no longer serve.
The baby-panamax and maxi-panamax make a lot of sense for the intra-Asia feeder market
Shipbroker
“The baby-panamax and maxi-panamax make a lot of sense for the intra-Asia feeder market,” said one broker.
“They work few discharge ports, mainly trying to get the ships loaded in one port and discharged in another. That is what their value comes down to.
“But if you make it a more complex trade, with more complex cargo distribution and lots of discharge ports, their flexibility drops very quickly.”
He said that the old panamax boxships vessels have difficulty trading to Australia, which is becoming more popular with wide-beam designs.
Significant premium
Those advantages are being played out in the charter market where modern wide-beams are earning a significant premium over classic panamax designs.
Charter rates for wide beams have weakened since spring last year, when they reached $18,000 per day.
But the latest fixtures point to an improvement of up to $2,000 per day over the past month.
In early February, the 5,466-teu Wide Alpha (built 2014) — one of 16 ships of the Hanjin 5400 W design — was fixed for two to four months at $14,100 per day by Maersk Line. That is about $1,400 per day less than the most recent fixture.
There are 77 wide-beam containerships of 4,300 teu to 5,400 teu, according to Alphaliner estimates.
But it believes that only 30 ships are available in the spot market, as many are locked up in long-term charters or are owned by the liner companies.
Good prospects
The prospects for charter rates for wide-beam ships are good, it said.
“With a limited number of vessels available for charter in the short and medium term, zero ships on the orderbook, and a strong demand from carriers, the trading prospects appear relatively sound for the charter market wide-beam fleet,” Alphaliner said.
Longer term, the wide-beam designs risk being displaced by larger ships on certain high-volume routes having no port accessibility issues, and the risk is particularly strong on the Asia-West Africa route.
This is currently the largest trading area for wide-beam units with 33 ships deployed there, or nearly half the fleet, according to Alphaliner.
Other trades where wide-beam ships are at risk of an upgrade include those between Asia and the west coast of India.
