MPC Container Ships (MPCC) has confirmed the disposal of a veteran vessel while adding two newer ships.
The Oslo-listed German owner said it sold the 2,824-teu AS Carinthia (built 2003) ahead of a 20-year class renewal survey this quarter, for $7.6m.
The ship was bought for $5.2m in 2017 and has since generated free cash flow from operations of $11.2m.
The number of joint-venture vessels in the fleet has now been cut to two from eight since the last three months of 2021.
TradeWinds reported the sale last week.
The AS Carinthia was worth $54m at the peak of record markets last April, according to VesselsValue.
Chinese interests are said to be behind the deal.
MPCC has moved to renew the fleet with the acquisition of a pair of German-managed ships: the Wilhelmsen Ahrenkiel-managed 3,400-teu Rio Centaurus (built 2010) from Taurus Container in Norway; and the F Laiesz-managed 2,800-teu TRF Kaya (built 2007) from the WLR/TRF SH Container Ships IV fund in the US.
The price is $33.9m combined.
VesselsValue assesses the Rio Centaurus is worth nearly $20m, but it peaked at $71m last April.
The TRF Kaya, worth $61m at the height of the market, is now valued at $16.6m.
Scrubbers and charters
Both ships are fitted with scrubbers and have charters renewing in the fourth quarter of this year and the first three months of 2024 respectively.
The acquisitions will be funded via bank financing and cash at hand, MPCC said.
It also announced an “event-driven” dividend of $0.07 per share after banking $77.7m from a vessel sale and early charter redeliveries in December.
After this handout, MPCC will have declared more than $470m in dividends over the past 12 months.
Chief executive Constantin Baack said: “With these transactions, we further simplify and strengthen our corporate structure and improve our fleet composition in terms of vessel size, age and design.
“The acquisitions increase the earnings and distribution potential of the company already in 2023 and onwards, without any impact on the expected distributions from our existing fleet.”
Baack explained that MPCC is in a favourable position, given the strong charter backlog and a healthy balance sheet.
“Under the current market conditions, we will continue to optimise our fleet through potential vessel sales, accretive acquisitions or retrofit investments,” he said.
