- Swiss-headquartered containerline MSC recently completed the acquisition of a sub-panamax containership from Greek owner Euroseas.
- MSC’s owned fleet will reach 204 ships and further narrows the gap with top placed containerline Maersk.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) continues to grow its owned fleet having recently completed the acquisition of a sub-panamax containership from Greek owner Euroseas, reports Splsh247.
MSC Malena
MSC has bought the 2,000-built 2,506 teu ship EM Athens, paying $5m according to Seasure Shipbroking. The ship, which is valued by VesselsValue at $4.55m, was previously on charter to MSC at a rate of $9,250 per day.
MSC has renamed the vessel MSC Malena. Over the past few weeks MSC has been extremely active adding secondhand tonnage to its fleet, most of which was previously on charter to the line.
A neck-to-neck race
Earlier in the month, Splash reported the purchase of six German boxships ranging in capacity from 7,849 to 8,500 teu for an en bloc price of $158m. Since then MSC has also been named by brokers as the buyer of:
- The 2005-built 4,800 teu boxship Baltic East from Sinokor Maritime for $12m
- The 5,624 teu boxship Greenwich Bridge from Japanese owner Doun Kisen for $14m
- It has also reportedly acquired the 2006-built 2,490 teu Bomar Hermes from Borealis Finance for an undisclosed price.
If all of the deals are confirmed, MSC’s owned fleet will reach 204 ships and further narrows the gap with top placed containerline Maersk. In terms of global market share there is now just 0.9% difference between the two companies, both part of the 2M alliance.
Soren Toft, former Maersk COO, is set to start as CEO at MSC this month.
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Source: Splash247
