China-backed Transfar Shipping continues to make waves in the charter market with the fixture of a modern panamax container ship for $200,000 per day.
Brokers say the 4,600-teu Northern Prelude (built 2009) has been taken by the Singapore-incorporated company for the six-digit-sum for up to three months.
The vessel, controlled by private equity-backed V.Ships, operates for Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, which took the vessel on charter in October 2020 at $14,000 per day.
The Transfar fixture reflects the dearth of panamax and post-panamax container vessels coming open for charter in the coming months.
Another feeder vessel on charter to Transfar is said to have been sold to Danish operator Maersk.
The 1,700-teu A Daisen (built 2010) has been offloaded for a comparatively low price of around $33m, according to European brokers.
Shipowner StarOcean, which is also known as Ruiyang Shipping, chartered the vessel to Transfar in December for six months at $60,000 per day — or around $11m for the period.
Transfar is one of the newest entrants to the transpacific trade, where it launched services last August.
The company moved into shipowning in February paying $52m to acquire the 2,872-teu Windswept (built 2010) from Lomar Shipping.
The company is owned by Worldwide Logistics (Group), which has links to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Forward fixing picks up
The shortage of container vessels in the charter market has led to more enquiries for ships that will not be delivered until late 2022 or early 2023.
That is increasingly apparent in the smaller box sizes, where owners are able to forward fix vessels.
Oslo-listed MPC Container Ships (MPCC) has already been able to renew charters on 14 of 24 boxships that are expected to be renewed this year, according to chief executive Constantin Baack.
“We have even been approached on 2023 positions already,” he told an earnings call on 24 February.
Baack said the Hamburg-managed company is already engaged in tangible discussions on the vast majority of 2022 positions.
“And if the market continues in the same form and shape, I'm confident that we will be able to cover quite a number of forward positions already ahead of the actual charter expiry,” he said.
That will benefit MPCC’s larger vessels slated to come open, including the 4,300-teu AS Emma (built 2010).
Baack argued that strong charter rates over five years are likely to provide better returns than selling such vessels.
Different marketplace
MPCC argues that the forward fixtures are evidence of a market that has changed in two years.
Today, the charter market is characterised by record rates, longer periods and tight redelivery windows.
A shortage of larger vessels has focused attention on the smaller feeder market.
The 1,740-teu Ela (built 2012) has been taken for up to five months at $81,000 per day with an Asian operator.
Modern eco-vessels are also being hoovered up at firm rates for longer periods.
Germany’s Reederei Nord has extended the 1,800-teu Nordmaas (built 2019) with Maersk for a three-year period at $44,000 per day.
The 1,440-teu Cape Flint (built 2006) has been fixed for 11 to 13 months with Wan Hai Lines at nearly $70,000 per day.
