HS 0318-WZ

Märkte | Markets
Asia markets coming back
Chinese New Year caused less of a damper on freight and charter markets than feared.
Now the signs are pointing up again in container shipping. By Michael Hollmann
General activity may have slowed down
for Chinese Year but the impact on the
container ship charter market was hardly
noticeable. Fixing levels kept edging upwards
over the past weeks. The increases
were not always spectacular – except
for high-spec, very modern vessels – but
new benchmark-highs were set in one or
the other segment week after week. The
underlying fundamentals remain strong,
with the RWI/ISL container throughput
index seeing one of the strongest monthon-month
increases ever during its 11-year
history. The index pushed up from 131.9 to
134.4 in January, illustrating ongoing solid
growth in world merchandise trade. No
wonder that the utilisation of the world
container ship fleet improved further, also
aided by further tonnage injections by carriers
amid the export cargo rush in China
ahead of the Lunar New Year. By early
February, the idle fleet ratio (share of container
ship capacity in temporary lay-up
or waiting for new employment) sank below
1.0% for the first time in years. Only
around two dozen tramp ships were reported
to be without charter, raising confidence
among shipowners that »full employment«
of the global charter fleet is in reach. Although
there have been concerns over the
spate of deliveries of ultra large newbuildings
this year, analysts agree that cargo volume
growth should surpass net fleet capacity
growth in 2018 (circa 5.0% versus
around 4.0%). Therefore the outlook continues
to be favourable, with all ingredients
in place for a further recovery.
The last couple of weeks saw already
notable improvements in areas such as
the 8,500 TEU super-post-panamax class,
maxi-panamaxes (5,000 TEU), high-reefer
2,500 TEU vessels and most feeder ship
classes below 2,000 TEU.
Following the spectacular rises for modern
wide-beam 9,000 TEU ships at the start
of the year, enquiry for standard 8,000 TEU
has picked up as well, allowing rate levels
to start catching up from 12,000–13,000 $
into the 15,000–16,000 $ range. Cosco’s
extensions of the 8,533 TEU »Lloyd Don
Giovanni« and the 8,468 TEU »Europe«
are highlighting the firmer trend that had
been eagerly awaited. A Hamburg broker
termed it »a correction of a segment that
has been undervalued for quite some time,«
predicting further rises after Chinese New
Year when carriers set out to bolster their
fleets for the mid-year peak season.
Moderate activity amid tight availability
saw market rates for traditional panamax-
TEU Name dwt Built Type Speed Cons. Charterer Laycan Period Rate ($)
FEEDER / HANDY
698 Ice Bird 8209 2008 geared 17.0 28 Eimskip Mar 12 m Iceland / Halifax (ext) €6450
704 Max Moon 8523 2007 gʹless 17.0 24 SITC Feb 4–6 m Far East (ext) 5250
862 BF Caroda 11202 2004 geared 18.0 33.3 Sea Consortium Feb 5–7 m Mediterranean (ext) 8250
887 Avila 12340 2007 geared 18.0 36 Tarros Line Mar 6–8 m Intra-Med 7250
1049 Lantau Breeze 12350 2008 gʹless 18.0 31 Panasia Feb 4–5 m Intra-Asia 7900
1118 Max Cavalier 13702 2007 geared 19.0 38.5 Italia Marittima Feb 4–6 m East Med (ext) 7350
1118 Ionian Express 13760 2006 geared 19.6 41 TS Lines Feb 6 m Intra-Asia (ext) 6700
1368 Seapearl 16855 2011 geared 19.0 48.5 + 3.1 Bengal Tiger Line Feb 4–6 m Colombo / India 8200
1577 Happy Bee 21300 2006 geared 17.0 33 Simatech Apr 10–12 m Chittagong trade (ext) 10300
1740 Hansa Rendsburg 23508 2000 geared 20.5 58 + 3.5 Maersk Feb 49–77 days Med-West Africa 9500
1740 Hansa Breitenburg 23508 2003 geared 20.5 58 + 3.5 MCC / Maersk Feb 5–7 m Intra-Asia 9250
1891 Starship Pegasus 23927 2013 gʹless 18.5 35.8 CK Line Feb 12 m Intra-Asia 11500
SUB-PANAMAX
2194 Barry Trader 25539 2014 geared 19 48 + 3.5 Sinokor Mar 10–12 m Intra-Asia 14900
2524 Bomar Resolve 33074 2005 geared 22.2 97 Log-in Brasil Apr 12 m Brazil coastal (ext) 10250
2546 Banak 34000 2014 geared 21 90.4 + 5 CMA CGM Feb 9–12 m Med-Caribs (ext) 10500
2824 Odysseus 39418 2006 gʹless 22.3 99 + 5.8 Hapag-Lloyd Mar 2–4 m Med-West Africa (ext) net 8800
2824 Santa Bettina 39276 2007 gʹless 24.0 95 CMA CGM Mar 6 m Europe-New Zeal. (ext) 9500
3380 Adelheid S. 44052 2006 gʹless 21.4 120 MSC Mar 8–10 m UK / continent 8700
3450 Uni Florida 42950 2007 gʹless 23.5 117 Maersk Mar 3–5 m Far East (ext) 9750
3534 Songa Haydn 41989 2010 gʹless 22.9 128 + 6 Cosco Mar 5–7 m Intra-Asia 9500
TRADITIONAL PANAMAX AND WIDEBEAM
4259 Hawk Hunter 50700 2009 gʹless 19.0 84 Maersk Feb 3–5 m North Europe / Baltic 9500
5018 Piraeus 66579 2004 gʹless 23.0 154.5 TS Lines Mar 2–4 m FE-India (ext) 9150
5294 Blandine 65700 2009 gʹless 24.5 170 Cosco Mar 5–7 m Med-USEC (ext) 11750
5301 Balbina 65710 2010 gʹless 24.5 170 Emirates Shipping Mar 50–60 days FE-Middle East (ext) 10500
LARGE AND VERY LARGE
5888 PL Germany 67009 2003 gʹless 23.5 149 Simatech Apr 4–6 m China-India 11250
6881 Paxi 80087 2014 gʹless 19.0 Mitsui OSK Mar 2 m Transpacific 20000
8073 Conti Conquest 100909 2006 gʹless 25.0 248 Yang Ming Line Apr 12 m FA-WC South America 14500
8468 Europe 101612 2004 gʹless 22.0 143 Cosco Apr 9–12 m Far East-USEC (ext) net 15500
8533 Lloyd Don Giovanni 193200 2006 gʹless 21.0 144 Cosco Mar 5–7 m FE-Mexico / Caribs (ext) 16000
10114 Express Rome 121960 2011 gʹless 24.0 250 Hapag-Lloyd Apr 12 m Europe / India (opted) 25500
Charter deals / all information without guarantee
12 HANSA International Maritime Journal – 155. Jahrgang – 2018 – Nr. 3