Three ships destined to enter service for Tailwind Shipping Lines — the container division of supermarket chain Lidl — have been fixed for short periods.
The vessels of between 3,500 and 5,000 teu have been fixed to liner giants Hapag-Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) and CMA CGM, according to brokers.
The move comes in a market that lacks clear direction and falling asset values have left MSC as practically the only buyer.
Lidl Stiftung & Co KG, which is part of the privately-owned Schwarz Group, is expected to put its own ships into service by the middle of the year.
Before then, Hamburg-based commercial manager Blue Net Chartering appears to be cashing in on a series of short-term fixtures for vessels to be taken by the German supermarket chain.
The tonnage provider has fixed the 4,957-teu Jadrana (built 2014) to MSC for 70 days at $110,000 per day, brokers said.
The sistership Wiking (built 2016) has also been fixed for a slightly longer period of up three months to CMA CGM at $51,000 per day.
The 3,868-teu Merkur Ocean (built 2013) has been chartered to Hapag-Lloyd for up to six months at $61,000 per day.
Tailwind will take the three wide-beam vessels on long-term charters later in the year for periods of up to four years.
China dominates panamax
Shorter fixtures are proving popular with Chinese lessors too.
China-backed Transfar Logistics has extended charters of three medium-size vessels taken from Shanghai-based tonnage provider Zhonggu Logistics.
The 4,892-teu Zhong Gu Fu Jian (built 2010), 4,389-teu Zhong Gu Ji Lin (built 2002) and 2,539-teu Zhong Gu Shang Hai (built 2015) have been chartered for a further 12 months, according to brokers.
Transfar is thought to be paying above $100,000 per day for the larger vessels.
Another Chinese operator, BAL Container Line, has secured the 2,524 teu Tiger (built 2005) for a transpacific voyage.
German and Singapore-based tonnage provider Blumenthal will receive up to $95,000 per day for a three to four-month charter, brokers said.
Values drop for smaller ships
While short-term charter rates remain firm, there are clear signs of boxship values falling from peaks earlier in the year.
MSC has purchased the 1,736-teu A Hoken (built 2004) from China-based Starocean for just $24m, brokers said.
That is a sharp fall on the sale of the 1,736-teu sister vessel A Daisen (built 2010) two months ago.
In February, shipowner StarOcean, which is also known as Ruiyang Shipping, sold the A Daisen to Maersk for around $33m.
A handful of other Wenchong designs, including the 1,732-teu Hansa Limburg (built 2006) and similar-size Hansa Offenburg (built 2011), were reported sold at the same time for more than $30m.
But the uncertainty caused by Covid-19 lockdowns and the war in Ukraine is resulting in many buyers remaining on the sidelines, brokers said.
MSC is practically the only buyer in a market where charter rates for smaller boxships are falling.
The New ConTex dropped to 3,163 points on 28 April — a 3.6% decline from 3,280 over the week and 11.3% down over the month.
The fall is stronger in the smaller sizes where rates are down 19% over the month.
Six-month charter rates for 1,700-teu vessels dropped nearly $10,000 in the last week of April to $64,850 per day, according to the New ConTex assessments.
