MSC has taken 2 more secondhand purchases last week, as its total capacity operated edges closer to the 6m teu mark. The vintage 25 year old 5,364 teu EVER UNITY has joined MSC last week as the MSC UNITY VI for deployment on its South Africa Ingwe service while the 2,867 teu AS CLARITA will join MSC after its current drydocking as the MSC CLARITA III for deployment on the Upper Gulf Express service in the Middle East. MSC’s aggressive vessel acquisition drive has allowed it to avoid the charter
With the rest of its main rivals pushing ahead with their capacity expansion plans, Maersk has been stagnant with its capacity operated capped at 4.3m TEU since 2017 as the Group pursued its logistics integrator strategy. This is set to change as Maersk stated last week that it will be “doing whatever it reasonably can to bring supply in line with businesses’ demand for capacity”, as it hints to an imminent reversal of its self-imposed capacity cap. The move follows Maersk’s withdrawal from it
Charter rates continue to set new benchmarks with sharp gains across all size segments on dwindling numbers of prompt tonnageCarriers are increasingly reluctant to commit to forward positions in late 2024 and early 2025 given the current elevated charter rate levels, while the number spot fixtures are decreasing noticeably due to the lack of available ships. The focus has shifted to the smaller sizes of below 2,000 teu where there are still a limited number of ships still open. Second hand tran
The container market remains red hot with short term charter rates breaching the $150,000 per day benchmark and spot freight rates rising above the $8,000/feu level, setting new highs not seen since the end of 2022. New services out of Asia continue at a rapid pace, led by the Mexico route with 6 new services launched since May, followed closely by 5 new services to the US West Coast and 3 new services to North Europe. There is clearly insufficient tonnage available to keep up with the rampant
CMA CGM was reported to have fixed the 7,092 teu newbuilding TS DUBAI at a very strong $80,000 per day rate for 3 months, setting a new rate benchmark. Momentum picked up further last week as demand remains red hot while supply of prompt units of over 2,000 teu remain very tight. The sharp rise in freight rates will fuel the charter market in the next 8 weeks with no room for rates to drop. MSC has taken delivery of 2 more ships in the resale market last week although both ships were previously
The bullish container freight and charter markets continue to gain ground with carriers pushing for further rate hikes through May while demand for ships remain unabated. Over-capacity concerns are on the backburner with containership diversions to the Cape route effectively removing more than 7% of the total fleet. New tonnage requirements have shifted to the Mexico and Middle-East/Indian subcontinent markets, with 3 new services to Mexico launched in May alone by COSCO, CMA CGM and MSC while M
The charter market went into overdrive last week, with fixture activity, rates and periods all rising in tandem. Carriers’ tonnage demand is still not fully covered despite the high level of new ship deliveries as the surging freight market is supporting the rise in charter rates in all segments except for the 1,100 teu and smaller sizes. The composite charter index is up 10% YoY, with the larger sizes enjoying much higher increases. CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and SeaLead were the most activ
The easter holidays and Ching Ming holidays has not dampened charterer interest, with charter rates are still rising over the past week. Open interest for prompt deliveries remain high especially for the larger sizes where availability is limited. Hede Shipping completed the charter of the 4 ships it needed for the newly launched Hede Direct Service connecting Shanghai and Los Angeles – the 3,426 BFAD ATLANTIC ($22,000 for 12 months), 1,809 teu ANDROKLIS ($15,750 for 6 months), 4,298 teu REN JI
Zim has confirmed the purchase of 5 ships of 8,400-10,000 teu ships in February that were previously chartered from NSC Schiffahrt by exercising a purchase option for a total consideration of $129m. It brings Zim’s total owned fleet to 14 units, compared to just one ship in 2020. Zim’s owned fleet comprises just 11% of its current operated fleet – still the lowest ratio of owned ships amongst the Top 12 carriers. The charter market continue to trend upwards with demand still strong across all s
Containership charter rates continued their rise with the Red Sea crisis still pushing up demand. Rates for larger ship are edging up at a faster pace with demand remaining high while supply is limited. Rates are 15-30% in the larger segments above 4,000 teu are 15-30% higher compared to a year ago, with charter periods lengthening to up to 3 years. Carriers are taking advantage of increased demand and high freight rates to the Red Sea region (including Aden, Jeddah and Djibouti) to add new ser