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Freighters’ ‘battle’ for containerships – Which Greeks sign multi-year contracts

Of George Georgiou

Charters for the few available containerships of their fleets are “sealed” by the Greek shipowners, with the demand from the charterers remaining high today

“Carriers are playing poker and closing charters for ships from now until mid-2022,” a container transport analyst told Capital.gr.

The report is obviously made because no one knows for sure that fares will remain at these high levels next year, although most analyzes suggest this.

However, there is no ship available for charter for the next few months, not even for a sample. “99% of the capacity is sold out and already chartered,” adds the analyst.

Greek deals

In one of the latest charter deals that became known in recent days, Danaos Corp interests of Giannis Koustas, reportedly chartered the “Wide Bravo” (capacity 5,466 TEUs and built in 2014) for three years, starting in June 2022.

The steamer was chartered in March of the following year, during which it was charged $ 19,500 a day. The price of the new deal is estimated to exceed $ 50,000 a day.

“We have finalized some charters in large numbers and duration, but our policy so far is not to make announcements,” said sources close to the company.

This is the company’s third steamer, which, according to charterers, is said to have been re-chartered almost immediately after the end of the current charter.

In April 2022, a three-year charter is expected to start for “Artotina” (capacity 2,524 TEUs and built in 2001), while employment was also provided for “Express Berlin” (capacity 10,114 TEUs and built in 2011).

A “look” at Danaos fleet reveals that most containerships have secured multi-year charters, even by 2028. Danaos manages a total of 71 containerships.

At the same time, Global Ship Lease, the company listed on the Wall Street of George Giouroukos, is connected by brokers with the provision of two five-year charters for “UASC Al Khor” and “Maira XL” (capacity 9,115 TEUs and built in 2015 each), at a price over $ 60,000 a day.

“UASC Al Khor” is chartered in the first – second quarter of 2022, during which it earns a fare of $ 34,000 per day, and closed in a new charter until the third quarter of 2027.

Also, the current charter of $ 31,650 per day of the “Maira XL” is completed in the second – third quarter of 2022 and the new agreement will last until the fourth quarter of 2027.

Global Ship Lease’s fleet consists of 65 containerships.

The fares

The spot market fares on the main sea routes last week remained almost unchanged, according to the Drewry index. On the Rotterdam-Shanghai route alone, a slight increase of 1% was recorded.

Overall, however, transportation costs remain high. In particular, from Shanghai to Rotterdam, the cost of transporting a 40-foot (ft) container stood at $ 13,609 on December 16, up from $ 13,564 a week earlier. This amount is increased by 197% compared to last year.

In terms of time charters, according to VHBS (Hamburg and Bremen Shipbrokers’ Association), the daily fares for one-year containerships, with a capacity of 4,250 TEUs, reached $ 85,005 on December 10, up from $ 85,360 a week ago ). The increase compared to the fares recorded last year in the same period exceeds 260%.

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Source From: Capital

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