South Korean shipowner Sinokor Merchant Marine is selling a brace of neo-panamax boxships to MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company for around $200m, say market sources.
The Seoul-based company is believed to have sold two 8,000-teu newbuildings to the tonnage-hungry Swiss-based liner operator.
The pair, reportedly the London Bridge and Dubai Bridge, are believed to be costing around $100m per vessel.
They are slated for delivery from Ulsan-based Hyundai Heavy Industries in March and May 2024, according to Alphaliner.
Sinokor ordered six ships in the series in March 2022 for a reported price of about $98m each. The vessels will be powered by conventional marine fuel and are slated for delivery next year.
Sinokor has 181 ships on the water, totalling 14.8m dwt, and a further 29 of 1.8m dwt on order, according to data from Clarksons Research.
The company does not typically comment on its commercial activities, but has been doing lots of business with MSC in the past two years.
Last year it hived-off four traditional panamaxes to the Geneva-based owner including the 4,253-teu Singapore Bridge (built 2002) and the 4,432-teu Baltic South (built 2010) for $160m en bloc.
These two latest acquisitions are estimated to take to 313 the number of secondhand container ships that MSC has purchased since August 2020.
Sublets
Sinokor has also been busy in the charter market taking vessels that are being sublet by various Asian operators such as the 2,500-teu Tiger (built 2005).
The Tiger was taken on charter in April by China United Lines for up to six months at $19,500 per day. It has been fixed with Sinokor at just $18,500 per day for the balance of its existing charter.
Sinokor has also taken the 2,742-teu Jeju Island (built 2006) for six months at around $20,000 per day, which is significantly lower than its previous fixture.
The Jeju Island had been taken by Taiwanese operator Wan Hai Lines in late 2021 for three years at $38,000 per day.
Sinokor still has a substantial container ship newbuilding orderbook.
That includes orders placed early 2022 for four 2,800-teu vessels and a pair of 1,000-teu feeder ships at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard for delivery from the second half of this year.
Sinokor is said to be paying about $43m each for the 2,800-teu feeder vessels and about $25m apiece for the 1,000-teu vessels.
