Clarksons’ April report said that secondhand boxship sales reached a two-year high in the first quarter of 2024, with 241,000 TEUs changing hands.
The world’s largest shipbroking group said that sales activity was pronounced in the 8,000 TEU to 12,000 TEU size range, accounting for 40% of all capacity sold.
Clarksons remarked, “Buyers in the Far East and Europe have scrambled to lock-in much sought-after tonnage in the larger sizes, where demand in the charter market has also been most intense.”
Secondhand prices have continued to firm into April, with Clarksons’ Containership Secondhand Price Index standing at 60 points by early April, the highest level since December 2022 and up 15% since mid-December 2023 (if still less than half the early 2022 peak).
The guideline price for a decade-old 6,600 TEU unit was up by 8% from March, at US$42 million by early April, while notably, the guideline price for a same-sized 15-year-old unit was up by 20% to US$30 million.
MSC, which has been building up its capacity lead over Maersk Line and CMA CGM, has been the most active buyer, with at least seven ships of over 32,000 TEUs purchased in 1Q 2024.
Among the sales in Q1 2024 were two 1,868 TEU newbuilding resales at Chinese shipbuilder Yangfan Group. The ships appeared to have been originally commissioned by German tonnage provider Vega Reederei Friedrich Dauber in early 2022 and were reportedly sold for US$25 million each to Chinese feeder operator Ningbo Ocean Shipping.
CMA CGM also chose to buy CMA CGM Ivanhoe, a 9,661 TEU ship that had been chartering from German owner Claus-Peter Offen Reederei since its ex-yard delivery in 2008. The price was undisclosed.
Russia-focused Chinese operator Safetrans Line continued to build on its fleet, buying the 2002-built 4,367 TEU Zhong Gu Ji Lin from Zhonggu Logistics.