Charter rates for ships below 5,000 teu have tumbled with an increasing pool of redelivered ships and relets while charter periods have also shortened with carriers unwilling to commit to longer periods in a slowing market. Rates for ships above 5,000 teu have remained relatively resilient but this is only due to the limited number of candidates available in the market. Zim continues to shed its surplus tonnage, with the 4,252 teu VOLANS redelivered 10 months early and retaken by Hapag-Lloyd at
Charter rates continued to slide for the smaller sizes, with prompt tonnage readily available in the 1,100 and 1,800 teu segments with a number of newbuildings due in the next 3 months still uncommitted, while sublet candidates have increased. Zim in particular has been actively reducing its charter commitments, through both sublets and charter terminations. 2 ships have already left in July, with several more to be redelivered in the coming month. Activity in the larger sizes is still limited,
Charters rates for smaller feeders below 3,000 teu continues to be under the most pressure with rates noticeably declining over the last 2 weeks as ready tonnage continues to build up in Asia. There has been several reports of deals failing on subjects across all sizes, with demand waning as freight markets continued to weaken. MSC has taken over its 349th resale unit since 2020 with the 1,740 teu X-PRESS COTOPAXI (renamed MSC PAXI II) joining the fleet. Chinese and Russian buyers remain activ
Charter rates are easing across all sizes after their unexpected rally in the 1st half of the year, with activity slowing down noticeably in recent weeks due to weaker market demand, as well as the onset of the summer holidays. There were a number of charter extensions taking effect in July, featuring ships from Danaos, GSL and Seaspan in deals concluded several months earlier. Hapag-Lloyd exercised their extension options on the 10,114 teu EXPRESS ROME and EXPRESS ATHENS at $30,000 per day fo
Cooling demand and an increase in relet candidates have seen charter rates coming under fresh pressure. Rates are faltering across all size segments as the weakness in the feeder sizes is spreading to the panamax and larger sizes. Zim has sought the early termination of several sub-panamax and panamax ships with remaining charters of 2-3 years that has already started to put pressure on charter rates as these ships return to the charter market. Resale transactions are also cooling down althoug
Charter rates are starting to falter with carriers forced to reconsider their peak season deployment plans especially on the transpacific where demand has remained very weak while the risk of an escalation in port congestion has been substantially lowered following the ILWU agreement reached last week. The sharp decline in transpacific rates has already forced all the new carriers apart from Swire/UWL out from the trade, with Pasha and CU Lines the latest micro-carriers to withdraw. The increas
US retailer Costco has recorded a $93m charge in the fiscal quarter that ended on 20 November 2022 for the termination of charters for 7 containerships as well as related equipment leases that it had operated on the Asia to US routes. The one-off charge will more than erase all the savings that Costco enjoyed since the company started operating their own ships through an exclusive charter arrangement with US operator Pasha that started in August 2021. Costco said that it had shipped nearly 50,