China’s Antong Holdings has fixed out four boxships to compatriot Sinotrans Container Lines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), for international trade.
Of the four vessels, two – the 2018-built Renjian Fuzhou and the 2019-built Renjian Dalian – have a 2,444 teu capacity while the other two – the 2006-built Haisu 6 and the 2004-built Haisu 7 – have a 698 teu capacity.
The first pair is hired at a daily rate of $23,500 for 16-20 months while the other pair will earn $7,500 daily for 11-13 months. Both rates are excluding tax. The total transaction value is estimated between $266m and $350m.
Antong stated that, due to declining domestic container shipping rates and intensified market competition, it decided to allocate part of its fleet to the international trade market.
The company believes that the rising freight rates in the international container shipping market driven by the Red Sea crisis and increased demand would boost the company’s overall profitability.
In late May, Antong and CMES revealed plans for a major restructuring involving the spin-off and merger of subsidiaries Sinotrans Container Lines and Guangzhou China Merchants RoRo Transportation. The proposed restructuring aims to list these subsidiaries through a reverse merger with Antong.
This restructuring plan, confirmed in mid-June, will see Antong issuing shares to acquire 100% of Sinotrans Container Lines and 70% of Guangzhou RoRo, resulting in CMES becoming the controlling shareholder of Antong, with China Merchants Group as the actual controller.