Mandarin Shipping has sold a feeder ship at a price that reflects the surging values of secondhand boxships.

The Hong Kong company's 1,700-teu Mount Nicholson (built 2017) has gone to Singapore-based owner Sea Consortium, according to European brokers.

The price was reported to be about $45m, which would mark a rapid appreciation in values.

The sale comes days after Tim Huxley-led Mandarin sold the 1,756-teu sistership Mount Gough (built 2016).

It was sold to French carrier CMA CGM for a firm but reportedly lower price, slightly in excess of $42m.

Mandarin ordered six feeder vessels at Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding in China in 2014.

The ships are based on the CV Neptun 1700 design, with an extra wide beam and a length of 170 metres defining them as Bangkokmax ships.

The newbuilding price was not formally disclosed, although similar vessels were ordered at the time for about $25m each.

The sale leaves Mandarin with three ships in the series.

The company sold the first of the six ships, the Tamanrasset (ex-Mount Hallowes, built 2017), prior to delivery in late 2016 to Compagnie Nationale Algerienne de Navigation for about $27.5m.

Managing director Huxley would not comment on the prospect of the vessels being sold when contacted earlier this week.

“Returns to our shareholders are the only thing [that] matters, so we will be guided by that,” he told TradeWinds.

Charter market firming too

Prices for small boxships of this size are appreciating as owners are able to secure longer charters of at least three years.

Even older vessels such as the 1,740-teu Okee Alicia and Hansa Ratzeburg (both built 2007) are reported fixed to Germany's Hapag-Lloyd for three years at $27,250 per day.

Asking rates for charters of more modern Bangkokmax designs has risen well above $30,000 per day for similar periods.

Brokers report strong demand for the few 1,700-teu vessels coming open in the first half of the year.

That gives owners the option of locking in lucrative short-term periods.

That includes the 1,815-teu Bindi Ipsa (built 2013), the last vessel in the fleet of Hong Kong-based Ipsa Capital.

The vessel is reported to have obtained $80,000 per day for a six-month fixture with Taiwan’s Yang Ming Line.