Singapore-based feeder container company X-Press Feeders is reported by brokers to have sold one of its oldest, smallest containerships.
The 1,162-teu X-Press Yamuna (built 1998), one of a batch the company acquired on the cheap when it moved into shipowning a decade ago, is said to have been sold to Middle Eastern interests.
X-Press Feeders paid $3.8m for the X-Press Yamuna when bought as Laurita Rickmers in December 2012.
Since then the ship has traded through some of the most challenging and profitable years of container shipping. Today, according to a VesselsValue spot evaluation, it is worth $11.6m. MSI Horizon assigns it a slightly lower fair market value of $10.4m for the third quarter of this year.
Either way, X-Press Feeders has more than doubled its money on the ship, excluding any income it has made operating it.
The company has been quick to cash in on strong asset values in the current market boom.
Five containerships were sold in 2021. Some of these were much larger and newer than the X-Press Yamuna.
This year, the 707-teu X-press Monte Rosa (built 2004) was sold to Medkon for an undisclosed price. The ship was handed over to its new Turkish owner in June and renamed Medkon Samsun.
X-press Feeders has been equally active on the purchase front, buying five feeder-size containerships in 2021, and another two in January.
Over the past two years, the company has also signed orders and options for close to 30 containership newbuildings, many of which will be powered by Methanol.
TradeWinds has approached X-Press Feeders for comment.
