Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd is reportedly looking to charter or buy up to 10 neo-panamax newbuildings from Evangelos Marinakis' Capital Ship Management and Lou Kollakis’ Chartworld Shipping.
The liner operator is tying up deals involving a series of high-reefer, 13,000-teu vessels that are under construction in China and South Korea.
Alphaliner reports that half of the ships involved in the deal will be purchased, and the other half will be chartered.
It suggests that three of the six 13,200-teu vessels that Capital has on order at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries could be sold outright, with the remaining three taken on long-term periods.
Similarly, two of the four 13,000-teu ships that Kollakis ordered at China’s New Times Shipbuilding are to be sold to the German carrier, Alphaliner added.
The other two have been taken on long periods with deliveries in July 2023 and the first half of 2024, it said.
Portfolio to 22 ships
The deals could lift Hapag-Lloyd's newbuilding portfolio by up to 22 ships.
The vessels would add to the liner operator's existing orderbook for a dozen 23,660-teu vessels at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd confirmed some details of the deal but said other aspects are still under negotiation.
One shipowning source told TradeWinds that three of Capital's ships have been chartered to Hapag-Lloyd for 10 years, therefore not sold, and that Capital will control the vessels.
The ships involved in the deal are scheduled for deliveries beginning in 2022 and running into 2024.
Hefty profit
Any sales or charters are expected to be lucrative for the two Greek shipowners, which were contacted for comment.
Capital ordered the series of conventionally fuelled, scrubber-fitted neo-panamax boxships in December 2020 and February this year for a price of $103m per ship.
The company made a profit from the sale in May of four 13,100-teu newbuildings under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries to Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines.
That deal netted Marinakis’ private company — Capital Maritime & Trading — a $32m profit.
But the deal for the remaining six ships could be even more lucrative as asset values and charter rates have continued to rise.
Chartworld ordered its four neo-panamax boxships in March for $105m apiece, and these are worth about $120m today, according to VesselsValue estimates.
The vessels will be equipped with 2,100 reefer plugs and are the largest boxships being built at New Times.
VesselsValue said they were part of Chartworld’s fleet of 24 boxships, comprising 14 feederships, three panamaxes and seven post-panamaxes.
