AP Moller-Maersk has renewed its charter of a 20-year-old midsize container ship for three years amid elevated chartering activity in the box market, brokers said on Friday.
It has locked in Global Ship Lease’s 6,080-teu GSL Christel Elisabeth (built 2004), according to MB Shipbrokers.
The charter rate for the Samsung Heavy Industries-built post-panamax was not revealed, and spokespeople for New York-listed Global Ship Lease and Copenhagen-listed Maersk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rates on period charters for container ships continue to gain ground in a market in which disruptions and rising demand have limited available tonnage.
Maritime Strategies International’s MSI Horizon analysis platform estimates that a one-year time charter of a vessel of the GSL Christel Elizabeth’s characteristics is worth $53,900 per day in the third quarter, up from $40,400 per day in the second quarter.
Maersk is currently paying just $13,250 per day for the ship on a charter that expires between the third quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year, according to data from the US Securities & Exchange Commission. That charter was signed in 2019.
It has been operating the vessel on a service between Singapore and Australia with CMA CGM’s ANL, Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express.
ANL had previously announced that the ship would be rotated out, but on Friday it said those plans were cancelled.
MB, a Copenhagen broking house, said the container ship charter market has seen increased activity, ample uncovered demand and scant prompt tonnage.
“Demand remains healthy across all segments with terms basically showing good stability,” it said in a weekly report.
“Focus on 2025 positions continues to grow, with more tonnage disappearing this week whilst we are also now seeing deals concluded for first-quarter tonnage in the segments below panamax size.”
The broker said post-panamax vessels were fixed starting in 2025, with two to three parties competing for the same tonnage.
“Demand remains strong with owners taking a fairly bullish attitude,” it said.
Maersk’s decision to keep the GSL Christel Elisabeth for a further three years builds on a relationship in which it has chartered a major share of London-based Global Ship Lease’s vessels.
Global Ship Lease executive chairman George Youroukos has highlighted how the Red Sea crisis is adding to tonne-miles in the container ship sector and pushing liner operators to lock in tonnage.
“While I’m not going to make a prediction about when or how the conflict in the Middle East ultimately resolves, it is clear that the liner operators, our customers, have been increasingly willing to commit to multi-year charters, suggesting a growing industry consensus that the Red Sea security situation and its numerous knock-on effects in the supply chain may not resolve for some time,” he told analysts in August.
“At GSL, we’re capitalising on these supportive conditions to increase our contractual cash flows at firm and rising charter rates.”
