- A new long-term charters for two scrubber-fitted post-panamax containerships with Capital Product Partners is signed by MSC.
- The Greek ship owner said the ebitda for the two charters amounted to approximately $44.5 m, excluding options.
- Agamemnon, the 2007-built 8,266 teu will commence its charter in the third quarter and Archimidis, its 2006-built sister ship, will be taken in charge by MSC in Q4.
- Capital equips all of its 10 containerships and one bulker with scrubbers and is rewarded with increased charter rates to compensate for the $5 m cost of installation.
- Capital has also signed amended charters with CMA CGM for three 9,288 teu vessels and five 5,023 teu ships with South Korea’s HMM.
- China’s state-owned Cosco has managed to secure availability at yards in China for retrofitting five 18,980 teu and eight 14,074 vessels.
MSC has signed a new long-term charters for two scrubber-fitted post-panamax containerships with non-operating shipowner Capital Product Partners, reports The Loadstar.
Sulphur cap kickstart
MSC will have installed exhaust gas cleaning systems on about half of its fleet, by the start of the IMO’s 0.5% sulphur cap regulations on shipping, on 1 January.
With this MSC can continue to burn cheaper heavy fuel oil (HFO) and enjoy lower operating costs than ships using low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO).
Duo containerships
The Greek NASDAQ-listed shipowner did not disclose the amended hire rates for the vessels, or the premium secured for the scrubber installation. It just said the ebitda for the two charters amounted to approximately $44.5 m, excluding options.
- Agamemnon , the 2007-built 8,266 teu will commence its charter in the third quarter
- Archimidis, its 2006-built sister ship, will be taken in charge by MSC in Q4.
Compensation for installation
Capital decided to equip all of its 10 containerships and one bulker with scrubbers and has been rewarded with increased charter rates to compensate for the $5 m or so cost of installation.
The current value of the 11 vessels is $438 m, compared with a scrap value of $121 m. However, the value could be upgraded when the increased charter rates are taken into account.
Charters signed with CMA CGM
Apart from MSC, the shipowner has signed amended charters with CMA CGM for three 9,288 teu vessels and five 5,023 teu ships with South Korea’s HMM.
The brokers indicate that HMM agreed a premium of some 30% for the scrubber-fitted vessels, which could see Capital gain a return on its investment within 18 months.
MSC’s extensive scrubber programme
MSC
MSC has the most extensive scrubber programme among the ocean carriers, with the latest assessment by Alphaliner putting the number of its ships that will continue to bunker with HFO after 1 January at approximately 250.
Evergreen
While Evergreen, with a retrofit and newbuild scrubber programme of some 140 ships out of its 208-strong fleet, will have the highest fleet percentage of compliant but HFO-burning vessels.
Maersk Line and Hapag-Lloyd
Other carriers, such as Maersk Line and Hapag-Lloyd, which were initially in the LSFO camp and anti-scrubber, have been playing catch-up in order not to be at a cost disadvantage from the impact of IMO 2020.
The Danish carrier once said scrubbers were “not the answer” to complying with the IMO sulphur cap, but will ultimately have about 100 of its 700+ ship fleet fitted with scrubbers by 1 January.
However, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and others have found that many scrubber companies are effectively ‘sold out’ until the middle of next year.
Cosco secures yards for retrofit
China’s state-owned Cosco has managed to secure availability at yards in China for retrofitting five 18,980 teu and eight 14,074 vessels, reports Alphaliner.
Overall, the consultant estimates, some 840 containerships, equating to 8.1 m teu, and representing 36% of the global container fleet by capacity, will have scrubbers fitted.
LSFO premium
The scrubber divide between the carriers could be a make or break situation for some lines, depending on the premium paid for LSFO and how long a price gap between the two fuels exists.
The assumption is that LSFO will command a $200 premium on HFO, which, given that an ULCV can consume around 100 tons a day at sea, would add up to $2 m to the costs of a round-trip voyage of a single alliance Asia-North Europe loop.
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Source: LoadStar
