Greece’s Navios Maritime Partners has added $79m to its huge charter backlog with a new container ship contract.
The US-listed owner has fixed out the 4,250-teu panamax Navios Amarillo (built 2007) to Israeli line Zim for $42,500 per day over five years, according to shipbroker Howe Robinson Partners.
The term begins in November and shows how far out charterers have to fix ships now in hot markets.
Fearnley Securities said Navios Partners’ charter backlog is now approaching $3bn.
The vessel was bought from Rickmers Maritime in 2017 for $6.8m and is now worth nearly $82m, according to VesselsValue.
Navios Partners’ boxships are mostly now fixed for 2022 at average rates of $33,500 per day, according to Fearnleys.
Next year is also filling up, with the investment bank estimating 78% coverage already.
Fearnleys is already tipping the owner to turn down options to renew charters for five 2006-built, 6,800-teu panamaxes to South Korean operator HMM.
These five-year extensions would pay $21,000 per day, but current charter levels are well above this.
TradeWinds has reported that while levels remain firm, some deals are failing on subjects due to uncertainty over the impact on the market of the war in Ukraine, according to brokers.
But Germany’s Offen Group has forward-fixed a couple of large container ships with Ocean Network Express (ONE).
The 8,073-teu Conti Conquest (built 2006) and similar-sized Conti Annapurna (built 2004) have been taken on an extension by the Japanese carrier from mid-2023. The deal is for three years at rates of about $65,000 per day, brokers said.
