France’s CMA CGM is spending up to $150m to acquire five high-reefer container vessels from Benelux-based reefer specialist Seatrade.
The liner giant is reportedly paying more than $30m each for the 2,200-teu vessels that it currently has on charter.
The vessels are believed to be the 2,200-teu Seatrade Orange, Seatrade Red, Seatrade White (all built 2016), Seatrade Blue (built 2017) and Seatrade Green (built 2019), according to Alphaliner.
The five ships were first chartered by CMA CGM for 24 months at $21,000 per day from December 2022, which implies they will be taken over by the French line when their charter ends later this year.
Management of Seatrade and CMA CGM were contacted but did not confirm the deals.
Seatrade ordered the vessels in 2013 in what was then an eye-catching move by the traditional reefer operator into the container shipping sector.
The ships were built at Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding yard for prices reported at between $26m and $30m.
The five container vessels are equipped with three cranes of 45 tonnes but their selling point is their high-reefer capacity.
The ships come with between 639 and 776 reefer plugs, or around double the 260 to 300 plugs installed on most standard designs.
That makes them suited to CMA CGM reefer service between North Europe, the US East Coast, South Pacific and Australia.
The vessels currently operate alongside 13 vessels of between 2,250 and 2,700 teu.
Most of the vessels are provided by CMA CGM, although one is supplied by French company Marfret.
Reefer containers
Seatrade, which operates a large fleet of about 45 classic reefer vessels from offices in Antwerp and Groningen, will retain some exposure to the container sector following the sales.
The company is taking delivery of six high-reefer 1,800-teu Bangkokmax container vessels ordered between June 2022 and September 2023 from Huanghai Shipbuilding in China.
Three of the vessels have been delivered, the Seatrade Chile, Seatrade Peru and Seatrade Ecuador (all built 2024).
The ships have secured period employment with third-party operators SeaLead, OOCL and the Great White Fleet, respectively, according to Alphaliner.
Shipbroker Clarksons lists the Seatrade Peru as fixed for two years with OOCL at $23,500 per day.
Three other vessels, the Seatrade Columbia, Seatrade Panama and Seatrade Curacaos are slated for delivery over the coming months.
