German containership liner Hapag-Lloyd has sold three container ships for demolition as the company moves to shed older tonnage.
Cash buyers Wirana Shipping Corp said the boxship giant has sold its 2,808-teu Mississauga Express and Ottawa Express (both built 1998) and the 2,300-teu Milan Express (built 1995).
The South Korean-built vessels are reported sold to the Turkish vessel recycling centre of Aliaga.
The three ships achieved prices of around $380 per ldt. This equates to almost $6m each for the two 25-year-old ships and about $5.4m for the 23-year-old vessel.
Wirana said the price was higher than boxships of this size and vintage would be expected to achieve due to a large number of spares onboard and the prompt delivery for the vessels.
He said these would likely involve “a double-digit” number of vessels, adding that the company has a number of ships reaching the end of their lifespans during the next two years and the majority of these will likely be scrapped.
Wirana said the supply of fresh tonnage coming into the recycling market improved in the last week with some fresh tonnage coming onto the market for sale from the dry and offshore segments.
But demolition brokers continue to report an overall shortage of tonnage and sluggish activity on the back of uncertainties over steel demand.
Elsewhere, two Chinese-built bulk carriers, the 37,212-dwt Tian He Shun and the 29,566-dwt Xiang Jiang 6 (both built 1977), are reported sold to breakers in Bangladesh for about $563 per ldt each.
All eyes are on the Bangladesh budget scheduled for later this week and any fallout this may have for the recycling sector.
Clarksons said that in 2023 so far, 4.2m dwt has been reported sold for recycling globally, compared with 11.4m dwt in the full year of 2022.
The brokers said bulk carriers have accounted for 45% or 1.9m dwt of the total, followed by boxships at 21% or 0.9m dwt. But tanker demolition remains limited at just 7% of the total or 0.3m dwt.
