Less vessels available, but no escalating rates: The charter market for former post-panamax vessels above 5,300 TEU currently witnesses a paradoxical phenomenon.
While there are virtually no bigger container vessels immediately available to the market, charter rates are not esca[ds_preview]lating as they should do under normal circumstances as Andreas Mietzner from a Hamburg-based ship broker explains.
Talking to HANSA the market analyst pointed out that given the current status of the idle container fleet for vessels above 5,300 TEU – and especially for those above 7,000 TEU – reasonable charter rates should be significantly higher than those rates currently being fixed. The analyst partly attributes this paradox to a biased market perception of the supply side.
»Admittedly there are a still quite a few big container ships to be delivered this year. However, many market observers forget to differentiate between liner operators. While many bigger carriers are about to receive ULCS new buildings, smaller lines do not,« Mietzner explained. Towards HANSA he pointed out that those smaller lines are confronted with a tight supply situation indeed.
Furthermore, supply conditions could even worsen if loading volumes should pick up during the Christmas business which is about to start in the months to come.
