Recurrent buyer MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has continued its secondhand spending spree with a brace of midsized boxships from Taiwan’s TS Lines.
The Swiss liner giant has purchased the 6,350-teu TS Dubai (built 2007) and 5,680-teu TS Mumbai (built 2003) in an en-bloc deal worth about $55m.
The TS Mumbai is said to have fetched around $25m and the TS Dubai a price in the high $20m’s, according to European and Asian shipbrokers.
The Aponte-family-owned company is also linked to the purchase of the 4,738-teu CSL Sophie (built 2005) from Cyprus Sea Lines.
The deals see the world’s largest liner operator actively buying ships at a time when liquidity in the charter market is tight.
MSC has been on a formidable spending spree and has purchased about 290 vessels since August 2020, according to Alphaliner estimates.
TS Lines, in contrast, is emerging as a seller of its older ships.
The intra-Asian specialist has sold five vessels in recent weeks.
These started with the 4,363-teu TS Kelang in December through to the 2,553-teu TS Manila (both built 2007) in February, according to VesselsValue.
Charter market revives
The deals have been done as the boxship charter market has started to revive.
Charter deals are being done at higher rates for longer periods, especially for smaller ships, said brokers.
The stronger market has seen Evergreen Marine pay a premium to take the 3,534-teu Northern Diplomat (built 2009) from V.Group Germany for 12 months at $19,750 per day for a fixture in the South American region.
That compares with a rate of about $16,000 per day that similar vessels might have earned two weeks ago, said brokers.
Periods for smaller vessels are also reported to be picking up, with some longer deals emerging.
Germany’s Briese Schiffahrt is reported to have fixed one of its boxship newbuildings scheduled for delivery next month.
The 1,930-teu Palawan has been fixed with France’s CMA CGM for 12 to 18 months at $14,500 per day. The vessel is scheduled for delivery from China’s Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard next month.
The longer period contrasts with the drift towards shorter charters in the past six months.
The average container ship fixture in February was seven months, down from 25 months in the third quarter of 2022, according to Clarksons Research.
“Operators have increasingly taken a short-term charter market approach amid major market uncertainty, weak trade volumes and an upcoming clear acceleration in newbuilding container ship deliveries,” the shipbroker noted.
