Nicholas Georgiou-led Lomar Shipping continues to dispose of container shipping tonnage for a profit.
The UK-based shipowner is selling the 2,872-teu Windermere (built 2010) for a relatively strong price of around $17m, according to brokers.
The sale to an unnamed operator marks a healthy profit for Lomar which bought the vessel in late 2020 for about $10m.
But it is a far cry from the $52m that Lomar bagged at the peak of the market.
In early 2022, the shipowner was able to sell the 2,872-teu sistership Windswept (built 2010) to China-backed logistics newcomer Transfar Shipping.
The fall in ship prices reflects a collapse of charter rates which has seen another of Lomar’s vessels relet by its charterer for a big loss.
The 2,190-teu Queen Esther (built 2016) has been sublet by The Pasha Group of the US to French liner giant CMA CGM.
The vessel has been fixed for a seven-to-nine month at $17,350 per day, or less than half the $42,500 per day that Pasha agreed to pay Lomar in January 2022 for a four-year charter.
Another vessel reportedly sold by Lomar is the 1,089-teu Michelangelo Trader (built 2004), which the shipowner bought for $5m in 2013.
If confirmed, the two sales would take to 51 the number of vessels that Lomar has sold since the second quarter of 2020.
The company is estimated to have bagged nearly $1.5bn from the fleet disposal to date.
String of deals
In other deals, German owner Herman Lohmann Bereederungen is paying close to $9m to acquire the 1,368-teu Julius (built 2009) from compatriot Briese Schiffahrt.
The move would be the second acquisition this year by Lohmann, which is picked up the 1,368-teu Nickie B (built 2011) in January for $10.5m.
Lohmann has taken advantage of rising demand to charter out the 1,118-teu Astrid L (built 2006) for three months to DP World-subsidiary Unifeeder.
The rate of $14,500 per day is a strong rate that reflects a shortage of tonnage in the Atlantic. Currently there is only one vessel of 1,000-to-1,249 teu in a spot position, according to Alphaliner.
In other sales, US liner company Seaboard Marine selling sold the 974-teu Seaboard Atlantic (built 2009). Alphaliner reports that the vessel will be renamed Elbrunner, which suggests it has been bought by German owner Elbdeich Reederei.
In the larger sizes, perennial buyer MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company bought the 3,091-teu Hammonia Lipsia (built 2004) for an undisclosed price from interests linked to Germany’s Schulte & Bruhn.
The purchase takes to 287 the number of secondhand vessel that MSC has purchased since August 2020, according to Alphaliner.
