Turkish liner shipping operator Medkon Lines has snapped up a pair of feeder boxships.
The Istanbul-based carrier picked up the 1,200-teu Presidio (built 2003) from Greek owner Conbulk Shipmanagement and is expected to rename it Medkon Ankara.
The Turkish liner company also reportedly bought the 1,134-teu Asiatic Neptune (renamed Medkon Anka, built 2007).
It is the second vessel of the boxship design that Medkon acquired over the past year from the Bunnemann family’s Asiatic & Atlantic Lloyd Group.
Last year, Medkon picked up the 1,134-teu Asiatic Wave (built 2007) from the AL Group, which it renamed Medkon Perla.
No price details have been released for the two ships, but the deals are likely to be worth around $15m.
The Presidio is valued at about $6m and the Medkon Anka around $9.6m, according to VesselsValue.
The two acquisitions add to five feeder boxships that Medkon acquired last year.
The company owns a fleet of 18 vessels, of which 14 are deployed on its own routes and four are chartered out, according to Alphaliner.
The vessels are being acquired as charter rates for feeder vessels are expected to pick up.
Just 130 vessels in the 1,000-teu to 1,250-teu category will be coming to the end of their charters in 2024, according to BRS Shipbrokers.
“The outlook for these sizes looks good for modern, energy-efficient vessels, which are popular on many trades around the globe,” it noted in its annual review.
BRS expects older units, “custom-made” for some niche routes, will probably continue to do reasonably well.
However, older and low-specification units might need to exit the market due to competition from energy-efficient units, it added.
