CMA CGM is paying top dollar for a short-term charter of a neo-panamax newbuilding from South Korea’s Sinokor Merchant Marine.
The French liner giant has fixed the 8,030-teu Melbourne Bridge (built 2024) for three months at “a six-digit rate”, container charter brokers said.
The vessel, scheduled for delivery this month, is the first of four newbuildings of this type under construction for Sinokor at Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Sinokor has placed the vessel on a short-term — but high-paying — charter rather than employing it in its own service, brokers say.
Although the rate is not known, it is likely to be sky-high. A similar vessel, the 7,092 teu Kota Valparaiso (built 2024), recently secured around $150,000 per day for a three-month fixture with AP Moller-Maersk.
In addition, CMA CGM is taking two of Sinokor’s smaller feeder ships for longer periods.
It has extended the charter of the 1,355-teu Atlantic West (built 2008) for a further 12 months at $16,500 per day.
A month ago, a similar vessel would have been earning $13,000 to $13,500 per day, say brokers.
Another sign of the strong feeder market is Sinokor’s fixture of the 1,100-teu Atlantic North (built 2002) for a similar period to CMA CGM at $15,000 per day.
The charter deals come in a market in which lines appear to be baulking at further rate rises.
Rate thunderstorm over
“The thunder of the rising rates has worn off,” authors of the New ConTex commentary wrote in a week in which the container charter index rose just 1.5%.
Charterers had limited their activity to contain demand, they added.
Holidays in various parts of the world and the limited availability of tonnage for charter had also stemmed further rises in container rates.
However, fundamentals sustain the market and meant “the probability for a substantial reduction in rate levels is more or less non-existent”, it added.
That appears to be reflected in the feeder market, where increasingly strong rates are being obtained, especially for vessels sailing into the Red Sea.
The 2,800-teu OVP Taurus (built 2003) was reported fixed by Turkish operator Akkon Lines at $59,000 per day.
It will be trading in the Red Sea for the carrier’s Asia-Turkey service.
