Ships

The global containership fleet has passed 28m teu last week, with total new ship deliveries since the start of this year reaching 1.94m teu. More than 1 new ship has been delivered each day since June this year, with the same pace to continue through the next 12 months. Carriers are facing a difficult time maintaining recent freight rate gains in the face of the capacity influx, with vessel scrapping and idling remaining at very low levels. The freight rates (SCFIS) were down between 80% and 9

Charter rates are seeing sharper drops with the start of the winter slack season further pushing down market sentiment while charter periods are also significantly shortened with more flexible delivery periods of 1-6 months being reported. Idle tonnage is starting to build up again but the pace of idling is still slower than last year, with most of the larger ships due to return to service by November. However, the build up of surplus tonnage is starting to bite with even MSC forced to idle

The idle fleet increased slightly to 53 ships for 166,936 teu as at 1 October 2023, and will increase further over the coming week as the blank sailing programs to be implemented in October will leave some ships without employment albeit only temporarily. The 23,656 teu MSC MINA has been idle since 24 September and is currently without assignment through October, with MSC also sending more ships for scrubber retrofits over the past week. However, the idled fleet is not expected to match the sha

The Abrao Group of India has acquired its first ship, taking over the 1,662 teu WAN HAI 267 that has been renamed ABRAO COCHIN. The ship is currently at Qingdao and is expected to be used for trading in the India. The ship is one of 6 units of the 1,662 teu Wan Hai 260 series built in 2001-2002 in Shin Kurushima that were originally slated for scrapping by Wan Hai. However, there has been strong buying interest for further trading, with the first ship WAN HAI 261 sold to Chinese interests in Ju

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,

Evergreen's order for 16 new methanol powered containerships of 16,000 teu at Samsung H.I. marks the single largest containership order contract ever made. The order was finalised on 14 July 2023 and is worth $3.1 Bn (KRW 3.96 Tn) in total, with each unit priced at $193.9m. The ships are scheduled for delivery in 2026 and 2027. A separate order for 8 similar units has been placed at Nihon Shipyard according to Evergreen's announcement made on 11 July 2023.

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