Italian liner operator Ignazio Messina is doubling down on its move into the container ship segment.
The Genoa-based company has confirmed the purchase of two more classic panamaxes from Cyprus-based Marlow Navigation.
The 4,380-teu Lana and its sister ship Rosa (both built 2010) have been acquired for an undisclosed price.
However, the deal is likely to be worth over $40m as each of the two ships has an estimated value of more than $22m, according to VesselsValue.
The two vessels are expected to be delivered to their new owner at the end of the year when their charters end with Danish carrier AP Moller-Maersk.
The move continues Messina’s recent acquisition of fully cellular vessels and leaves the company with four boxships in its fleet.
That expansion began earlier in the year with the acquisition of a pair of German-owned boxships.
In May, the company splashed out $28m per vessel to purchase the 4,400-teu Northern Promotion (built 2010) and Northern Priority (built 2009), since renamed Jolly Argento and Jolly Oro, respectively.
Brokers report a notable increase in activity in the panamax boxship sector in recent weeks, mostly due to an influx of Chinese buyers.
The heightened competition among these players has increased prices, they added.
Replace conros
Messina’s container vessels replace eight of the world’s largest conros sold by the family-controlled company in recent months.
That programme began last year with the sale to US-based Liberty Maritime of the 6,350-lane-metre Jolly Diamante (renamed Liberty Power, built 2011) for a price variously reported at levels from $72m to $78m.
The company followed that with the sale this year of three more of the vessels to the US Maritime Administration.
That deal included the sales of the 2,920-teu Jolly Cristallo (built 2012) and Jolly Quarzo (built 2013) in a transaction that VesselsValue priced at $88m per ship. It followed that with the sale of four giant conro vessels to Abu Dhabi Ports, in a deal said to be worth up to $400m.
The 45,000-dwt, 6,350-lane-metre Jolly Titanio (built 2014), Jolly Cobalto, Jolly Palladio and Jolly Vanadio (all built 2015) were sold in July.
