Indian logistics company Abrao Group has become a shipowner with the acquisition of one of the six container ships that Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines was planning to recycle back in June.
Abrao Lines, a newly formed shipping subsidiary, has just taken delivery of the 1,662-teu Wan Hai 267 (built 2002) and renamed it Abrao Cochin.
Vessel tracking websites show the ship to have arrived in the Chinese port of Qingdao in early August.
Market sources familiar with Abrao’s plans said it will be deployed in the Indian domestic container sector in the near future.
The company is believed to be interested in acquiring more ships.
The Wan Hai 267 is part of a series of six Wan Hai 260-class container ships built between 2001 and 2002 by Japanese shipbuilder Shin Kurushima.
In June cash buying sources told TradeWinds that Wan Hai Lines was circulating the sextet for both further trading or recycling, with delivery for these six units is spread over a two-month period until the end of September.
The company subsequently ditched the recycling option due to strong buying interest for further trading, brokers later said.
Another of the 260-class, the Wan Hai 261 (built 2001), was sold to Honrise Shipping of China for $7m and is currently trading under the name of Honrise and managed by Xiamen-based Vanway Ship Management.
The ship’s current employment is unclear, although vessel tracking data showed it on Wednesday to be on a voyage from Colombo to Suez.
The remaining four units of the 260-class have yet to be sold and continue trading for Wan Hai Lines in Asian waters.
