Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) continues its relentless buying spree with the purchase of another two neo-panamax boxships worth an estimated $200m in total.
The Geneva-based liner company is reported to have bought the 9,034-teu Skyros and Symi I (both built 2014) from Embiricos-controlled International Maritime Enterprises.
The wide-beam vessels are believed to be costing around $100m per vessel.
That would take the liner operator's spending in the neo-panamax sector to around $400m in April alone.
MSC declined to comment for this story, and Embiricos did not reply immediately.
The deal comes hot on the heels of MSC's purchase of two modern neo-panamax boxships from US-listed Capital Product Partners.
In early April, Capital Product sold the 9,288-teu CMA CGM Magdalena (built 2016) and Adonis (built 2015) to MSC for a combined total of $195m.
The Skyros and Symi I are similar ships and are currently on charter to German liner operator Hapag-Lloyd.
They were ordered at South Korean yard Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in April 2013 and delivered to Embiricos in 2014 as the UASC Tabuk and UASC Jilfar.
Active player
The Swiss liner operator has been far and away the most active participant in the sale-and-purchase market.
In the past six months alone, MSC has purchased more than 40 secondhand vessels.
The Skyros and Symi I are the largest of 14 containerships in the fleet of Monaco-based International Maritime Enterprises, the remainder of which are vessels of between 5,570 teu and 6,881 teu.
MSC is making its latest move into the neo-panamax market at a time when charter rates have risen to more than $50,000 per day.
A new benchmark rate was set recently by Israeli liner operator Zim, which is paying up to $55,000 per day to take the 9,034-teu Seamax Niantic (built 2014) for 60 months, according to brokers.
International Maritime Enterprises, which was contacted for comment, has already been involved in selling containerships at a profit this year.
In January, the company was said to have netted a hefty profit on the sale of an 18-year-old containership it acquired barely a year ago.
The 5,551-teu Naxos (built 2003) was sold to TS Lines of Taiwan for a reported $25.5m, or more than double the $11.1m that Embiricos paid South Korean operator HMM in January 2020.
