Market Report - Harper Petersen & Co

Market Report
15th December, 2005

Container update 15th December, 2005
The charter market in November and early December offers two differing faces to market
participants and observers. On the one hand, prompt ships are still suffering to find decent
employment whilst more sophisticated ships are mostly being able to secure forward
employment at attractive periods / rates. It is furthermore interesting to notice that geared ships,
particularly in the atlantic basin, are faced with a higher demand than gearless vessels.
We foresee ongoing difficulties for the remaining ships in 2005 to find satisfying employment
and believe that owners of these ships will try to bridge the gap to bring them into the second
quarter of 2006 by fixing rather short periods. The outlook for the first and second quarter of
2006 remains uncertain. Some of the forward deals being done last month are filling owners
with optimism for the next couple of months whilst other fixtures will certainly be used by
charterers to highlight an ongoing fall of the market.
In excess of 2000 TEU we have seen surprisingly good forward fixtures like the geared 2500
TEU ships Frisia Loga and Ems Trader that fixed around USD 25,000 for periods of two
respectively one year (s). On the other hand we noticed that two gearless ships, the Northern
Trust and the Cimbria obtained comparably poor rates. Although the gearless ships seem to be
in less demand than the geared ships, as stated above, we find that the rates are still on the low
side looking at the other features of these ships.
In the medium sector between 1300 and 1900 TEU we can only repeat our statement from
above. The spot market remains weak whilst the market for forward deliveries looks much
brighter from Owners' point of view. Prompt ships like the Rio Branco and Arabian Express
had to accept shorter periods at rates in the USD 13's whereas vessels with a forward delivery
during the first or even the second quarter in 2006 where able to achieve mid to long term
employments at rates well above the spot market (see fixtures of the three Alpha II types or La
Paloma). As mentioned in our introduction it is however noteworthy that the more sophisticated
ships with a high reefer intake or a good speed are the first ones being fixed respectively
extended.
Around 1000 TEU activity continued at a fairly moderate level. The most interesting deals were
done on CV 1100 Newbuildings with delivery in 2006, although the fixture periods differed
enormously. Fesco fixed their first Newbuilding for 2 years to CMA at a rate of USD 12,500
for early 2006 delivery, whereas Hartmann, reportedly fixed two sister ships to Delphis at the
same rate but for a period of five years.
2/5

Fixtures
Gearless
Santa Catalina '01 opt PONL
45,500 dwt 3400 teu (2325 teu at 14ts)
private
800 reefers / 23,5kn on 113,0ts
opt 12 mos ww trade
Northern Trust '93 COSCO
42,300 dwt 3330 teu (2402 at 14ts)
21,500
150 reefers / 21,0kn on 95,0ts
30 mos atlantic trade
Cimbria '02 ext CMA CGM
39,358 dwt 2826 teu (2020 at 14ts)
21,800
554 reefers / 24,0kn on 95,0ts
ext 24 mos ww trade
Merkur Star '95 Maersk Sealand
41,830 dwt 2480 teu (2102 at 14ts)
24,000
150 reefers / 20,0kn on 72,0ts
3-4 mos atlantic trade
Duburg '90 MOL
26,288 dwt 1743 teu (131´5 at 14ts)
14,250
140 reefers / 18,7kn on 46,5ts
abt 2-3 weeks feast trade
Buxlagoon '94 STX PANOCEAN
23,465 1684 teu (1191 at 14ts)
14,900
152 reefers / 19,0kn on 48,0ts
6-7 mos feast trade -relet fm nyk
Arabian Express '97 ext KMTC
18,576 dwt 1439 teu (1140 at 14ts)
13,250
100 reefers / 19,0kn on 36,0ts
ext 4-6 mos feast trade
Rio Branco '98 Seacon
20,100 dwt 1301 teu (1000 at 14ts)
13,800
63 reefers / 17,0kn on 29,5ts
3 mos feast trade
Dubai Ambition '88 Asiatic Shipping Services
19,710 dwt 1171 teu (940 at 14ts)
11,500
100 reefers / 16,0kn on 40,0ts
9 mos feast / ioc trade
3/5

Geared
Susanne Schulte '01 PONL
34,717 dwt 2560 teu (1850 at 14ts)
private
600 reefers / 21,90kn on 87,0ts
opt 12 mos ww trade
Frisia Loga '06 CP Ships
33,780 dwt 2478 teu (1912 at 14ts)
25,000
400 reefers / 22,0kn
24 mos ww trade
Ems Trader '00 Hapag Lloyd
34,000 dwt 2442 teu (1884 at 14ts)
24,900
400 reefers / 21,8kn on 75,0ts
12 mos ww trade
H Ronneburg '04 Maersk Sealand
23,508 dwt 1740 teu (1330 at 14ts)
16,500
296 reefers / 20,5kn on 58,0ts
opt 12 mos atlantic trade
Hansa Brandenburg '03 Maersk Sealand
23,508 dwt 1740 teu (1330 at 14ts)
19,975
300 reefers / 21,0kn on 64,0ts
ext 16 mos pacific trade
Northern Harmony '94 ZIM
20,252 dwt 1709 teu (1177 at 14ts)
15,150
72 reefers / 19,0kn on 43,0ts
10-11 mos atlantic trade
La Paloma '93 ext CMA CGM
21,648 dwt 1667 teu (1080 at 14ts)
19,000 net
150 reefers / 20,0kn on 52,0ts
ext 14-16 mos cont/eafrica trade
Nadir '97 ext Maersk Sealand
25,100 dwt 1647 teu (1250 at 14ts)
19,300
353 reefers/ 21,5kn on 68,0ts
26-28 mos ww trade
Sirius '98 ext Maersk Sealand
25,100 dwt 1647 teu (1250 at 14ts)
19,300
353 reefers / 21,5kn on 68,0ts
ext 26-28 mos ww trade
4/5

Orion '97 ext Maersk Sealand
25,100 dwt 1647 teu (1200 at 14ts)
19,300
353 reefers / 21,5kn on 68,0ts
ext 26-28 mos ww trade
Westermuehlen '93 Safmarine
20,140 dwt 1388 teu (1014 at 14ts)
15,300
75 reefers / 18,5kn on 45,0ts
10 mos safrica/cont trade
Columbus Victoria '79 Samudera
23,165 dwt 1211 teu (824 at 14ts)
12,000
24 reefers / 18,5kn
3 mos feast trade (relet fm hamb. sued)
Orient Spirit '82 Seacon
20,828 dwt 1152 teu (1152 at 14ts)
12,750
16,0kn on 34,0ts
ext 12 mos ag trade
Fesco Askold '06 CMA CGM
13,760 dwt 1118 teu (700 at 14ts)
12,500
220 reefers / 19,5kn on 36,0ts
24 mos ww trade
Hartmann CV 1100 NB tbn Leine '06 Delphis
13,760 dwt 1118 teu (700 at 14ts)
12,500
220 reefers / 19,5kn on 36,0ts
5 yrs ww trade
Hartmann CV 1100 NB tbn Delme '06 Delphis
13,760 dwt 1118 teu (700 at 14ts)
12,500
220 reefers / 19,5kn on 36,0ts
5 yrs ww trade
Sea Space '86 Samudera
16,882 dwt 896 teu (611 at 14ts)
private
90 reefers / 15,0kn on 27,0ts
ext 3 mos feast trade
This report reflects information given in good faith to the best of our knowledge, but without guarantee.
5/5