- The Alphaliner Weekly Newsletter is distributed every Tuesday. Information is given in good faith but without guarantee.
- The last three months of 2020 saw the highest quarterly sales volume by teu since 2017.
- Prices have firmed at high levels in some segments, yielding good asset play.
- The average age of unit sold has risen due to the short supply of tonnage.
- Interest in the 5,300-7,500 teu segment has leapt in recent months.
A recent news article published in the Capital Link Shipping reveals the Alphaliner Weekly Newsletter for Week 9.
Sale and purchase volumes at four-year highs
Sale and purchase transactions have surged to the highest levels in four years, with prices in some segments now double those seen a year ago.
The final quarter of 2020 marked the highest quarterly volume of sales by teu since mid 2017, with comparative numbers distorted that year by the sell-off of Hanjin Shipping tonnage.
Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales in 2020 comfortably ex- ceeded those of the previous year, reflecting the tight tonnage supply in the second half of the year.
Annual sales reached 267 ships of 971,055 teu, versus 195 ships of 810,000 teu in 2019. The trend has continued into 2021, with 140,000 teu changing hands in January alone.
Two important buyers
Two buyers have dominated the sale and purchase market in the last four months.
MSC and Wan Hai Lines have together invested in 26 vessels since November, with MSC purchasing another 16 units prior to this, taking advantage of keen prices which are now starting to rise.
Hapag-Lloyd: unusual second-hand panamax purchase
Hapag-Lloyd has reportedly purchased the 4,255 teu ‘classic pana- max’ HOBBY HUNTER from CMB of Belgium for an unconfirmed price of around USD 23 M according to broking sources.
This is slightly more than the USD 21 M obtained by CMB on the sale of the sister vessel HARRIER HUNTER to Wan Hai Lines back in January.
The HOBBY HUNTER is already on charter to Hapag-Lloyd which is deploying her on its Med-Pacific ‘MPS’ weekly service.
The HOBBY HUNTER was built in 2009 by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, originally as the CPO CHARLESTON for Hamburg- based CP Offen. She was sold to CMB in 2015.
Rise in asset prices
The past years’ stiff rise in asset prices raises the questions whether second- hand vessels can still be had at a bar- gain or not.
Only six months ago, vessels such as the HOBBY HUNTER could be bought for prices under USD 10M.
For some vessel categories, prices have more than doubled since then, as evidenced by the USD 23M that Hapag- Lloyd reportedly paid for the HOBBY HUNTER.
Despite the rise since 2009, this still compared very favorably against the USD 65M that the ship was ordered for in mid-2007, when the market was at its peak.
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Source : Capital Link Shipping
