Hopes of a Charter Rate Rise Buoyed by Drop in Idle Fleet

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday June 25, 2015

A significant drop in idle container ship capacity during the first half of June is fuelling hopes that charter hire rates could pick up again, IHS Maritime reports.

Idle box capacity was said to have slid from 334,000 TEU on June 1 to just 228,400 TEU, about 1.2 percent of the global cellular fleet, on June 15, the lowest level in five years.

A strong demand for Panamaxes and Post-Panamaxes for new Asia - US East Coast and Asia - Middle East services is said to be responsible for the lower numbers.

"We were stunned to see a sharp drop like this as the charter market [quietened] over the past fortnight," explained a Hamburg-based chartering broker.

Charter hire rates saw strong increases from February until April, but container vessels trended lower in June with much higher operating expenses than most segments.

However, the chartering broker added that given the latest drop in slack charter ship capacity, charter rates could reportedly start to rise again either before or after July and August.

Both Post-Panamaxes and Maxi-Panamaxes are reported to have already showed a slightly firmer trend with fixtures of around 5,100 TEU.

On Tuesday, it was reported that Asia-Europe box rates had slid even further from last week, with carriers now losing double what they were last week. 

Ship & Bunker News Team
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