HANSA 05-2017

Märkte | Markets
Tonnage scarcity drives rates higher
Fixture levels for tramp vessels down to 2,500 TEU keep pushing up but momentum
has somewhat waned since mid-April. Effects of alliance restructuring tapering off now.
By Michael Hollmann
Sentiment in the container ship market
remained bullish during April, with
charter rates for larger vessels pushing up
vigorously and investor demand for second-hand
vessels continuing to be strong.
The New ConTex was up 11.5% month-onmonth
(20 April) – a considerable jump,
though not as steep as during the previous
4-week period (HANSA 04/17). However,
larger types which are hardly reflected in
the ConTex apart from gearless 3,500 TEU
and 4,250 TEU baby panamaxes continued
to post substantial gains. By contrary,
the feeder and handy segments of the index
(1,100 and 1,700 TEU) kept lagging behind
in the current rally, their rate levels moved
up only modestly into the mid $6,000`s and
low $7,000’s range, respectively.
It is the very large and large sectors, where
trading liquidity is naturally more limited,
that keep setting the pace for the market’s
advance. Modern 6,500-7,000 TEU and older
7,500 TEU class ships saw rates rise by
several thousand dollars again, illustrated
by the fixtures of the 2005-built 7,471 TEU
»Conti Savannah« at just below 20,000 $/
day for a medium period to Hapag-Lloyd
and the 2013-built high-reefer 6,881 TEU
»Kristina« for a longer 11–13 month duration
in the transpacific trade to Wan Hai.
The number of fixtures has come down
but most brokers put this down to a lack of
prompt availability after almost two months
of brisk fixing activity. Fortnightly idle fleet
statistics by researchers Alphaliner confirm
that utilization of the cellular fleet kept improving,
with the volume of idle tonnage
(liner-controlled vessels without service
assignment/charter-free tramp vessels) falling
to 256 units of 967,260 TEU as per early
April.
But a lot of this tonnage remains in layup
and cannot be activated promptly which
means that only a minor share of all these
ships can be considered available on spot/
prompt basis. According to Alphaliner, the
number of vessels immediately available as
per early April was down to just one unit in
the »large« 5,300–7,500 TEU segment and to
6 units in the »very large« 7,500-11,000 TEU
sector. The latter are mainly 10,000 TEU
class ships, previously owned by bankrupt
Hanjin and recently sold to Evangelos Marinakis-led
Capital Ship Management. Ru-
TEU Name dwt Built Type Speed Cons. Charterer Laycan Period Rate ($)
FEEDER / HANDY
704 Contship Box 8200 2008 gʹless 17.0 Hyundai Merchant Marine Apr 2–8 m Intra Asia 4200
966 Hoheriff 11500 2007 geared 18.8 Dole Apr 21–42 days Caribbean 7250
1036 WES Janine 13200 2012 gʹless 18.5 Sea Consortium Apr 1–3 m Cont / Baltic € 6300
1118 Vega Azurit 13760 2008 geared 19.6 Seago Apr 1–4 m Cont / Baltic 5900
1147 Asiatic Neptune 12690 2007 gʹless 19.0 KMTC Apr 4–6 m Intra-Asia 7250
1421 Charlotta B 17822 2009 gʹless 19.3 Hapag-Lloyd Apr 11–13 m North Europe 9250
1705 San Pedro 21737 2014 geared 19.7 Heung-A Apr 4–6 m Intra-Asia (ext) 8500
1732 RHL Audacia 23600 2007 geared 21.0 64 + 6 MCC / Maersk Apr 2–4 weeks Intra-Asia 7000
1740 EM Hydra 23400 2005 geared 19.5 62 + 3 Gold Star Line/ Zim Apr 4–7 m Intra-Asia 7200
1794 Bahamian Express 25937 2010 geared 20.5 60.4 Orient Express Lines Apr 15–20 days South Asia 7200
1900 Pacific Star 26260 1997 geared 19.0 K Line Apr 7 days Far East 6300
1924 Delphis Gdansk 24700 2017 gʹless 18.5 FESCO Apr 6 m Cont / Baltic 10500
SUB-PANAMAX
2450 Arica Bridge 32997 2010 geared 22.2 KMTC May 5–7 m Intra-Asia 9300
2472 Leda Trader 33917 2000 geared 22.0 Sinokor May 4–6 m Intra-Asia (ext) 9300
2500 Nordamelia 35500 2017 geared 19.0 Hamburg Süd May 5–7 m Pacific (relet by Seatrade) 11400
2732 Euro Max 39307 2002 gʹless 21.6 85.5 Bengal Tiger Line May 14–42 days Southeast Asia 9300
2824 Irenes Remedy 39382 2005 gʹless 24.0 Hapag-Lloyd May 5–7 m transatlantic 8850
2824 AS Carinthia 39386 2003 gʹless 24.0 Simatech May 4–7 m Indian Ocean trade (ext) 9500
3388 Natal 43127 2007 gʹless 22.4 Regional Container Lines May 4–6 m Intra-Asia (ext9 9550
3534 Northern Dexterity 42166 2008 gʹless 22.2 Hapag-Lloyd May 70–90 days Intra-Asia 9500
TRADITIONAL PANAMAX AND WIDEBEAM
4132 Duck Hunter 55495 2004 gʹless 24.0 Wan Hai May 40–50 days Far East (ext) 10600
4178 Amalthea 52788 2009 gʹless 24.6 K Line May 1 round voyage FE / SAF (ext) 10000
4398 Corinthiakos 55400 2010 gʹless 25.2 Hapag-Lloyd May 5–7 m Far East / India (ext) 10000
4600 Northern Priority 59186 2009 gʹless 24.0 Mitsui OSK Lines May 2–4 m Intra-Asia 11500
5294 Barbara 65550 2010 gʹless 25.0 181 Maersk Apr 2–3 m transatlantic (ext) 13000
5294 Blandine 65550 2009 gʹless 25.0 181 Cosco May 5 m transatlantic 13000
LARGE AND VERY LARGE
5551 Rio Barrow 68142 2001 gʹless 25.9 198 Hapag-Lloyd May 10–14 m N. Europe / ECSA (ext) 12500
5990 E.R. Denmark 68176 2002 gʹless 26.0 Hapag-Lloyd May 30–40 days N. Europe / China 10000
6492 K Phoenix 80270 2003 gʹless 25.0 225 CMA CGM May 11–14 m Asia / SAF/ WAF 12900
6881 Kristina 80277 2013 gʹless 22.5 Wan Hai May 11–13 m transpac / high reefer 18500
7241 Anton Schulte 90651 2009 gʹless 25.0 220 NYK Line May 10–12 m Far East / India (ext) 15000
7471 Conti Savannah 93542 2005 gʹless 25.8 268 + 10 Hapag-Lloyd May 5–7 m worldwide 19850
Charter deals April / all information without guarantee
14 HANSA International Maritime Journal – 154. Jahrgang – 2017 – Nr. 5