Dozens of container ships have been returned to lease!

Container ships leased at high prices are being returned in large numbers.

Against the backdrop of slowing transport demand and falling freight rates in the current container shipping market, some lessors and cargo owners who had previously entered the container shipping market by buying or chartering ships at the market peak are now returning a large number of container ships that they had leased at high prices.

The latest report from Alphaliner, a well-known consulting firm in the industry, shows that non-operating shipowner MPC Container Ships has recently agreed with charterers to terminate the lease of two high-priced container ships - the 2824TEU "CARPATHIA" and the 2741TEU "AS CARLOTTA" ahead of schedule, but the charterers need to pay compensation.

According to media reports, Wan Hai Lines general manager Xie Fulong said at a press conference held recently that the current container shipping market is gradually returning to normal. Wan Hai Lines has successively returned the lease of 18 container ships after the expiration of high-priced charter contracts, and will continue to return the ships leased at high prices in the future.

In 2021, the container shipping market faced serious shortage of ships and containers. Some large shippers entered the container shipping market by buying or renting ships in order to alleviate logistics bottlenecks.

As freight rates in the container shipping market continue to fall, large shippers who chartered ships to transport cargo when freight rates were high last year are apparently no longer inclined to continue paying high rents.

Not long ago, Costco, the largest membership supermarket chain in the United States, began to cut its investment in container ship leasing business. IKEA, a world-renowned furniture retailer, also announced its "exit" from the container shipping market and sold the containers it purchased last year.

The era of high freight rates and high rentals in the container shipping market has become a thing of the past.

Original text from:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VGu12gQjY-ykuEKlW8FabA