Capital Product Partners (CPLP) has chartered one of its wide-beam neo-panamax boxships in a deal worth more than $34m.
The US-listed company has fixed the 9,288-teu Akadimos (built 2015) with its existing charterer for a further two years.
The Akadimos is fixed to Japan’s Ocean Network Express, which operates the vessel in the Asia-Indian subcontinent services.
The ship, which is set to come open in April, will be taken at a rate that equates to $47,000 per day.
The deal leaves the Greek-managed company with 96% charter coverage for the remainder of 2023 and 2024.
CPLP has cashed in by selling some of its older neo-panamax container ships, such as the 9,288-teu Adonis (built 2015), amid record prices during the post-Covid boom for such vessels.
But the latest fixture shows it can still reap high returns on the remaining 14 large or midsize container ships that it owns.
CPLP, which is owned by the Marinakis family, including principal Evangelos Marinakis and his son Miltiadis, has fixed the Akadimos at a time when there is a limited supply of larger boxships in the charter market.
However, recent days have seen a handful of vessels of this size being fixed.
Brokers said France’s CMA CGM is paying around $44,250 per day to extend the 9,500-teu Santa Laetitia (built 2008) for a further two years.
The vessel, which belongs to Hamburg-based Offen Group, operates for the French line as the CMA CGM Orfeo.
SeaLead Shipping — another growing liner operator — has entered the charter market to take its largest-ever vessel.
The 10,114-teu Express Berlin (built 2011) has been fixed to the Singapore-based liner operator for $33,250 per day for a three-year fixture starting in June. The vessel is owned by Greece’s Danaos Corp, which is looking to diversify its portfolio of charterers.
