RUSSBROKER CARIBBEAN MARKET REVIEW
Sale and Purchase of Container Tonnage in the Caribbean Sales prices closely followed the charter market development. Of the very common CV 1,100 design, one vessel was sold in January for US$ 21 million, a sister in February for US$ 23 million and then with the disappearance of the three- year charter periods another sister went at the end of April for “only” about US$ 17 million. A similar picture showed for the most widespread 1,700 TEU design, the Wenchong 1700. In January a 2010-built unit got US$ 31 million, a 2010 one received US$ 33 million and a 2006-built one US$ 30 million in February before the market fell to US$ 24 million for a 2004-built sister by the end of April. The trend of operators buying secondhand vessels has been unbroken during the first couple of months in 2022. A modern, geared SDARI 2100 type and a very high reefer 2,800 TEU were sold to Asian end users and have/will leave the trading area. One 1,700 TEU ship was purchased by a global carrier and will likely stay in the Caribbean. Several more 1,100, 1,700 and 2,500 TEU high reefer ships with long-term charters attached were sold to investors. The small feeder fleet is getting older and older but orders for tonnage tailored to Caribbean or European trade remain few and far between. One of the largest third-party feeder operators placed an order for 8 x 1,100 TEU ships which are supposedly flexible in terms of technical specifications and not just designed for intra-Asia trade. In terms of propulsion a methanol-powered main engine will be installed in those vessels. Additionally, one global carrier expressed interest in geared 1,100 TEU newbuildings which indicates a Caribbean use case. When looking at the numbers and where the modern vessels, not older than five years, are trading, Asia is clearly in the lead with over 200 ships in the size range of 500 to 2,000 TEU. This represents about 17% of the total fleet in this size category for the area. In the Americas and Europe, the
SELECTED CONTAINER FIXTURES SUB 1,000 TEU - CELLED Mar 22
Lena
3 years
US$ 23500
p/d
966 TEU / 604@14 / 18on35 / 252rp 1100 TEU - GEARED, CELLED Jan 22
Apr 22
Pacific Trader
36-40 months
US$ 24500
1118 TEU / 700@14 / 20on42 / 220rp
Contship Zoe
12-16 months
1114 TEU / 700@14 / 20on42 / 220rp
US$ 30000
p/d
p/d
1300 TEU - GEARED, CELLED Jan 22
Apr 22
AS Floriana
3 years
US$ 27750
1300 TEU / 975@14 / 20on45 / 390rp
Warnow Whale
3 years
1296 TEU / 957@14 / 20on45 / 390rp
US$ 29000
p/d
p/d
2500 TEU - GEARED, CELLED Jan 22
Feb 22
Sealand Manzanillo
16-18 months
US$ 45000
2546 TEU / 1905@14 / 22on87 / 536rp
AS Angelina
36-38 months
US$ 36500
p/d
p/d
2127 TEU / 1530@14 / 22on85 / 400rp part of package deal, fxd more than 6m in advance Feb 22
AS Petronia
36-38 months
2556 TEU / 1850@14 / 22on80 / 600rp part of package deal, fxd more than 6m in advance
figures come to 15 and 20 vessels or 10% and 4% respectively in terms of total ships in the Americas and Europe. In terms of the average age of the fleet, the Americas are on par with Asia with 15 years and Europe lags with 17 years. The dearth of small feeder vessels was also illustrated by the fact that a 600 TEU gearless ship which had been trading in the Caribbean until 2020, then got sold to Mediterranean based buyers who used the vessel in the general cargo trade, was just sold to a European carrier who plans to reinstall cells and use the ship for pure container trade again.
46 Caribbean Maritime | June- September 2022
US$ 45750
p/d