MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has resumed its massive secondhand buying spree as vessels available for charter become harder to find.
The Swiss-liner giant is paying around $22m to acquire the 6,078-teu Lisbon (built 2003) from German shipowners, according to European brokers.
The 20-year-old vessel has been under technical management with Germany’s NSB Group and is reported sold ahead of its fourth special survey.
The deal takes to around 12 the number of boxships MSC has purchased this year.
That continues a monumental secondhand purchasing spree that has seen the liner giant acquire over 300 container ships since August 2020.
The company has faced competition from other buyers including France’s CMA CGM, which has bought more than 100 container ships since 2020, according to Alphaliner estimates.
Expectations are that liner operators such as MSC and CMA CGM might purchase fewer ships this year as freight rates have plummeted and have not materialised.
That is partly due to a shift in sentiment in charter markets where there are fewer prompt boxships coming available for charter, brokers believe.
The shift in the market has resulted in tonnage providers pushing for ever more improved terms.
Boot on the owner’s foot
Tonnage providers are demanding longer charters and pushing rates higher.
Greek owner Danaos has fixed the 5,400-teu wide-beam Wide Juliet (built 2015) for two years at a healthy rate of $25,000 per day, say brokers.
The vessel is reportedly taken by Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd in a deal that reflects healthy demand going forward as delivery of the vessel is not until the fourth quarter.
In the traditional panamax sector, tonnage provider Costamare has also fixed the 4,256-teu Androusa (built 2010) as an improved rate.
The vessel is said to have been fixed for 12 months with Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line at $23,900 per day. That is around $3,000 per day higher than similar fixtures might have obtained a few weeks ago.
Bottomed out
Some shipowners have been able to obtain longer charters, albeit at more conservative rates.
CMA CGM is reported to have fixed the 2,500-teu Minerva (built 2015) from Schulte Group for an unusually long period of three years.
The vessel is reportedly hired for 42 months at around $15,000 per day, which is lower than shorter and prompt fixtures.
By comparison, CMA CGM has taken the 2,200-teu Cape Quest (built 2017) for one year at $20,000 per day.
Brokers suggest the flurry of longer charters has prompted interest from investment-type buyers that have been absent from the container ship market.
That reflects a belief that charter rates and asset prices have bottomed out, they added.
