There’s been plenty of reporting on how today’s sky-high liner earnings mirror the COVID era.
Container shipping spot rates have leapt dramatically in May to all-time highs – outside of the pandemic period – with many analysts noting the similar conditions, namely a sudden jump in demand, leading to a constrained fleet, then leading to box shortages, leading to congestion and then to massively elevated spot rates.
Another similarity between the covid era and today’s liner market is the return of opportunistic, niche carriers.
Ellerman City Liners, part of UK-based forwarding group UniServe, will offer in June and July two sailings from China to Europe, Alphaliner is reporting. The carrier will deploy two ships that are scheduled to load in Ningbo and Dachan Bay for Casablanca and Tilbury.
UniServe created the Ellerman brand in late 2021, running services from China to the UK for around 13 months, before transferring its focus to transatlantic offerings. Ellerman currently has two ships in the 2,500 teu size range on charter.
As with all facets of container shipping presently, charter rates have leapt. Clarksons assesses the 6-12 month rate for a vintage, narrow beam 4,400 teu containership at $34,000 a day, double the $17,000 a day figure back in December.