Israeli liner operator Zim’s downsizing of its chartered fleet has enabled MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company to swoop on another four Greek-owned traditional panamax container ships.
Lou Kollakis-led Chartworld Shipping is selling the 4,250-teu Zim Qingdao (built 2006), Zim Vancouver, Zim Shekou and Zim Yokohama (all built 2007) to the Swiss liner giant for an en-bloc price of $80m, said European brokers.
Zim is understood to have bought out the Greek owner from existing charters with Zim, so enabling a quick sale of the vessels, brokers said.
The deal is one of several to have resulted from the Israeli operator’s desire to hive off tonnage.
Zim has been seeking to offload vessels taken at the peak of the market which are no longer needed given the slump in container demand on major trades, notably the transpacific.
That has seen the Haifa-based operator fire up the charter market with a handful of vessels relet to main line operators.
That includes the German-owned, 6,078-teu Zim Pusan (built 2000), which has been relet to Danish carrier AP Moller-Maersk for two to five months at in excess of $36,500 per day.
The fixture is lower than last done and shorter than the multi-year charters that have become typical for a vessel of this size.
Zim is also understood to have terminated charters on a trio of traditional panamax-size boxships that the carrier had on charter from New York-listed Greek owners.
The Costamare-controlled, 4,258-teu Volans (built 2010) is fixed with German operator Hapag-Lloyd for 11 to 14 months at $21,750 per day, said various brokers.
That sets a new benchmark for shorter periods, with most vessels fixed recently having been taken for two years.
Zim has been able to terminate the charters of two other vessels owned by New York-listed Euroseas.
The 4,250-teu Emmanuel P (built 2005) and sister ship Rena P (built 2007) have been fixed with Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line for 18 to 22 months at about $21,000 per day.
Relets are a growing feature of the charter market that are adding to pressure on rates that have been falling for about six weeks.
Charter rates remain firm although periods are shorter with the Peter Dohle-controlled, 5,527-teu Tessa (built 2005) taken by Korea Marine Transport Co at $37,000 per day for 12 months. The vessel had been operating with China United Lines.
Foroohari upsizes
Germany’s Reederei Foroohari is said to have picked up its largest container ship, the 6,500-teu MH Hamburg (built 2009).
The vessel has been sold by Uthalden Maritime for $32m and includes a bareboat charter to liner giant MSC until 2025, brokers said.
Zim is looking for ways to stop the falling boxship market from eating into profits.
The carrier this month downgraded its earnings forecast due to “continued weakness in freight rates across all the company’s trades, particularly in the transpacific”. That weakness is expected to continue in the second half.
Volume growth is also expected to be lower than originally forecast, as demand continues to be subdued.
Zim has high exposure to the charter market and operates more than 100 container vessels on short-term and longer bareboat charters.
