Asiatic Lloyd & Atlantic Lloyd (AL) group has emerged as the latest owner to benefit from record charter rates of $200,000 per day.
But the impressive figure obscures the fact that some charterers remain on the sidelines in the hope that freight and charter markets will ease, raising questions over whether rates have peaked.
A slowdown of the astonishing 18-month rally for container shipping has not prevented some spectacular short-term fixtures by some of the industry's newer charterers.
Germany and Singapore-managed AL has secured $200,000 per day for the 4,380-teu Als Ceres (built 2010), according to two European brokers.
Chinese newcomer BAL Container Line has reportedly chartered the ship for four months.
The fixture potentially nets AL $24m of charter revenue and matches the record rate obtained by the 4,250-teu Synergy Oakland (built 2009) in early September.
AL, which declined to confirm the fixtures, fixed the vessel to another up-and-coming player, China United Lines (CULines), brokers said.
Charterer CULines is said to have taken the 2,546-teu Als Venus (built 2014) for five to six months at $162,000 per day.
That could bag the owner about $29m over the period and is several thousand dollars higher than fixtures of similar ships earlier in the month.
One source familiar with the deals suggested that the market could still climb further.
"While the liquidity for the shorter periods at these ultra-high rates is thin, we don’t think that the general market has peaked," he said.
Another European broker suggested that momentum is gaining for the remaining positions this year at rates "substantially" above last done.
"Although nothing has yet been concluded, we expect further increases, whilst the underlying fundamentals seem to remain, and are even escalating," he said.
On the other hand
Others question how long some of the newer charterers will continue to pay for short fixtures of up to six months.
"It remains to be seen until when this endless rise will last, with endemic congestion issues across the globe denting the massive profits achieved by carriers on these ad-hoc employments," said Alphaliner.
Some freight forwarders have become cautious about taking ships for longer charters due to an easing of freight rates, brokers said.
Rates from Asia to the US west coast have eased from around $20,500 per 40-foot equivalent unit (feu) in early to mid-September to $19,182 per feu for the week beginning 27 September, according to the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX).
The dip in earnings has led charterers to think twice before fixing boxships when port congestion in the US west coast is at record levels, brokers said.
At the same time, lines including CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd have started to cap rates.
Brokers said demand remains strong for prompt vessels, despite the Golden Week holidays starting in October.
Carriers are increasingly prepared to commit to charters for which delivery does no start until early next year, they added.
US liner operator Matson has taken the 4,250-teu Kota Latif (built 2007) for four years at $44,000 per day, with delivery as late as March 2022, brokers said.
That reflects the view that the charter market will remain firm through to at least the first quarter of 2022.
"We have seen [the market] plateau for the last six-to-eight weeks, but strong interests have resurfaced over the last few days both for longer periods and in the sale-and-purchase market," said one Hamburg source.
Others remain uncertain as to whether the tonnage is likely to be taken by operators.
"There are growing indications that charter rates are approaching their peak, with prices increasingly plateauing across the board, especially for long period charters," wrote Alphaliner.
Standard tonnage in particular seems to be struggling to improve on last done, the research firm added.
"A slowing rise in container freight rates in the last weeks and a rebound in oil prices are also calling for greater caution from carriers," Alphaliner said.
Big ships thrive
The charter market for the biggest boxships continues to defy gravity due to a dearth of available vessels.
US-based Seamax Capital Management is reported to have fixed two neo-panamax containerships for five years in deals worth a total of $240m.
The company, which declined to comment for this story, reportedly chartered the 9,443-teu Seamax Rowayton (built 2015) and Seamax Mystic (built 2016) to France's CMA CGM for five years at rates of $65,000 per day.
