Container freight rates continue to slip with cargo front loading ahead of the new Trump tariffs providing little relief to the market. The US West Coast suffered the sharpest rate drops despite healthy volumes being recorded from Asia as capacity deployed continues to outpace the rise in demand. Carriers are targeting a fresh round of rate hikes in December with support from a rise in cargo volumes ahead of the US tariff hikes and the year-end shipping rush.
The pace of new ship deliveries have slowed to less than 130,000 teu in the past 30 days, setting the stage of further firming of the charter market that continues to defy the recent slump in the freight market. MSC is largely responsible for the shrinkage in the charter fleet, having taken out over 17% of the charter fleet in the past 4 years leaving its rivals to scramble to secure the remaining open ships, with more fixtures being done off forwards dates that stretch into 2025 and 2026.
Linerlytica
MSC vessel acquisition spree takes out 17% of charter fleet
MSC’s sweep of second-hand containership tonnage since 2020 has brought its total resale vessel acquisitions in the last 4 years to more than 420 ships. MSC’s unprecedented acquisition spree has removed more than 17% of the total fleet that are available for charter in the 800 to 15,000 teu size segment and has been a key driver behind the sharp rebound in charter rates this year. The shortage of charter market ships have forced carriers to fix forward for their favoured tonnage with deliveries stretching into 2nd half 2025 and early 2026.
MSC’s buying binge is still far from over, with further acquisitions still on the cards that keep both the second hand and charter market tight into next year.
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