US liner operator Pasha Hawaii has forged a $46m deal to charter a vessel from MPC Container Ships (MPCC) for three years.

The company has fixed the 2,824-teu Carpathia (built 2003), Pasha spokeswoman Emily Sinclair confirmed.

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She said the California company chartered the vessel on behalf of one of its customers. Though Pasha is best known for its role in the protected Jones Act trade linking Hawaii to the US mainland, she said the Liberian-flag ship will remain in international markets.

Oslo-listed MPCC told investors on Tuesday that it had chartered out the vessel for $42,000 per day for 36 to 38 months in a deal concluded in December.

The ship will begin the charter in September, according to a company presentation.

The fixture marks a significant rise in earnings for the Carpathia, which currently trades in the fleet of Taiwan-based Wan Hai Lines.

Wan Hai is paying just $16,000 per day for the vessel, whose charter it has extended repeatedly since first locking in the ship in 2019, according to data from VesselsValue.

But the skyrocketing earnings for the Carpathia is reflective of a still-strong market for container ships that is seeing charterers sign up for longer periods.

As TradeWinds reported on Tuesday, MPCC also said that it struck a three-year deal for the 3,586-teu AS Nadia (built 2007), which trades as the Nordspring, at $61,000 per day.