Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has acquired five more neo-panamax container ships from US tonnage provider Seamax Capital Management.
The liner giant is buying the vessels from funds managed by Seamax in a deal worth at least $300m, according to market sources.
The Geneva-based company is buying the quintet with forward deliveries over the next three years in what some observers regard as a vote of confidence in the enduring strength of the container market.
Initial reports suggested that Seamax is selling vessels that are already on long-term charter to MSC.
They are the 8,463-teu Seamax New Haven (built 2005), 8,208-teu Seamax Fairfield (built 2006), 8,690-teu Seamax Greenwich (built 2004) and 8,383-teu Seamax Darien and Seamax Bridgeport (both built 2003).
The average price of each vessel is reported to be around $60m, although that reflects the current charter rates with MSC through to 2024 and 2025, according to Braemar ACM Shipbroking.
Rising market
The charters with MSC were fixed mostly in the early stages of the container shipping boom, when rates were much lower.
The Seamax Bridgeport was fixed in March 2021 for four years at around $42,000 per day, while the Seamax Darien and Seamax Greenwich were taken for three years at the end of 2020 at $31,000 per day.
Today, the Seamax Bridgeport has a fair market value of around $100m and a one-year time charter rate closer to $142,000 per day, according to estimates by MSI Horizon.
Similar vessels such as the 8,814-teu Northern Jasper (built 2009) are said to have been fixed in recent days with Israeli liner operator Zim for up to 80 days at $175,000 per day.
Meanwhile, the benchmark for tonnage of 8,500 teu for a four-year charter with 2023 delivery is around $55,000 per day, according to Alphaliner.
The sale of the five vessels is likely to yield a significant profit for investors in the MC-Seamax Shipping Opportunities Fund, a closed-end private equity investment fund focused on container ships.
Seamax acquired four of the vessels in 2014 for a reported price in the region of $50m each. A fifth ship, the 7,486-teu Seamax Norwalk (built 2005), was purchased in 2017 for as little as $22m, according to VesselsValue.
The sales of the five boxships will leave Seamax as owner of a fleet of seven container vessels of 5,000 teu to 9,038 teu.
Over 200 purchases
Meanwhile, MSC continues to pick up tonnage in the smaller sizes. The company has acquired the 1,402-teu Helianthus (built 2007) — to be renamed MSC Tamishka F — from V.Ships in Hamburg, according to Alphaliner.
The carrier also forked out around $21m recently to acquire the 1,118-teu A Mizuho (built 2008) from Chinese interests, according to brokers. The vessel operates as MSC Alba F in the the company’s Africa-related services.
The Geneva operator is also reported to have purchased the 5,042-teu Felixstowe Bridge (built 2005) and 4,800-teu Sino Bridge (built 2004) for an undisclosed price from Sinokor Merchant Marine of South Korea. The vessels have a market value of up to $70m each, according to VesselsValue estimates.
The spate of recent purchases brings the tally of secondhand ships purchased by MSC since August 2020 to 207 vessels, according to Alphaliner.
