Lomar Shipping has entered the new year very much in the same way it exited the previous one — with a batch of profit-making sales in a booming container ship market that shows no signs of slowing.

The George Logothetis-led company realised an estimated net profit of more than $60m from divesting two relatively small container ships to Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC).

According to London-based brokers and market sources, MSC is paying about $80m en bloc for the 3,534-teu Belmonte Express (built 2006) and 2,524-teu Cardiff Trader (built 2003).

The Belmonte Express — previously known as the Maria Schulte — is the most impressive asset play of the two. Lomar purchased the vessel in late 2020 from Reederei Thomas Schulte — a shrinking German company — for just $7.5m.

Lomar took delivery of the ship in February 2021 and has since employed it in chartering deals earning between $23,000 per day and $24,000 per day.

The Shanghai Shipyard-built Belmont Express has now been sold to MSC for more than $50m — far more than the $40m to $44m that MSI Horizon's and VesselsValue's automated ship value calculators estimate it to be worth currently.

The second ship Lomar sold — the Cardiff Trader — has been in its fleet for much longer. Logothetis acquired it back in 2013 from the German KG market for between $8m and $9m — just about a third of the price at which MSC is buying it now.

Don't stop

Lomar has sold a dozen of container ships to MSC since late spring last year, according to TradeWinds data. That was just part of a wider sale campaign that saw the Greek company raise about $1bn in gross proceeds from the sale of 25 containerships over that period.

More than half of that money is believed to represent net profit from massive markups amid the recent container ship boom.

MSC has been the most prominent buyer. Acquisitions have helped the Geneva-based rise to become the world’s largest ocean carrier on 5 January, with a fleet of 645 container ships and a global market share of 17%.

Such expansion makes sense, considering that liner companies are raking in record profits themselves from an industry boom that gained even further momentum this month (see graph).

“Container shipping conditions remain extraordinarily strong, with spot rates continuing to surge upwards on the back of very strong demand from the US and extensive disruption upside,” analysts at Athens-based WeberSeas (Hellas) said in a market report on 14 January.

“The situation is unlikely to change anytime soon as supply chains remain overcrowded amid new Covid-related disruptions, which have added pressure to the operations at several key Chinese ports.”

How to benefit best in such a positive environment remains a conundrum for several owners, according to Clarksons.

“A difficult choice remains for any owner whether to commit to long-term fixtures or wait a little longer for something short and lucrative whilst freight rates remain so high,” analysts at the London-based outfit said in their latest weekly report.