It seems every week we are reporting on a major containership order or another record-high charter rate. This week was no different, with Seaspan Corp booking another $1bn swathe of newbuildings, a freight forwarder jumping into the charter market and Yang Ming Marine Transport eyeing its first ultra-large boxship newbuilding deal.
But as the hot containership market continues to push higher, the question as to how long this can possibly last, and what the long-term impact could be, becomes more poignant.
With editor-in-chief Julian Bray off on holiday, here's what I've been reading:
1. Yangzijiang poised to scoop LNG-fuelled containership deal worth more than $1bn
Singapore-listed Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is in position to benefit from the next wave of Seaspan's aggressive newbuildings programme. Correspondent Irene Ang reports that the China-based shipyard is gearing up to sign a deal with the Hong Kong-based shipowner for up to 10 LNG-fuelled vessels.
2. What will be left when the containership bubble bursts?
The containership market can't possibly be expected to stay at the levels of the recently reported “highest-ever charter rate” of $160,000 per day. But in the background of the red-hot rates, there are structural changes in the boxship sector that could remain even when rates return to earth, as correspondent Ian Lewis reports.
3. RMK Maritime's Ascension shoots for $500m after quick start in ship finance
RMK Maritime’s new Ascension Finance is off to a quick start. After clinching its first vessel mortgage in March, it has now lent $100m in its first four months, as deputy online editor Gary Dixon reports. The New York and London-based company believes $500m in deployed capital is possible in 2022.
4. Fidelity's big Genco buy is part of wider push into dry bulk
Institutional investor Fidelity has emerged with a 12% position in Genco Shipping & Trading. But John Wobensmith-led Genco is not the only dry-bulk player that has drawn the financial-services giant's attention. The move is part of a wider build-up of Fidelity's holdings in New York-listed bulker companies.
5. Maersk Broker joins forces with McKinsey to launch AI decarbonisation drive
Can artificial intelligence help shipping reduce its carbon footprint? Maersk Broker Advisory Services and management consultancy giant McKinsey & Co think so. They have partnered to provide a new fleet optimisation tool that will leverage Maersk Broker's market research and McKinsey's artificial intelligence service QuantumBlack.
6. IMC Shipping: traditional shipowner turns nimble asset-light operator
Frederik Guttormsen has a mandate for change. The managing director of Singapore-based IMC Shipping is leading the transformation of the Tsao family-owned company from a traditional shipowner into a nimble, asset-light operator, as Jonathan Boonzaier reports.
