Greek and Chinese year`s biggest buyers of containerships

Time:2010-07-28 Browse:40 Author:RISINGSUN

SALES and purchases of containerships in the last 18 months has been dominated by Greeks and Chinese, who account for 35 per cent of the vessels sold and 50 per cent of the tonnage since January 1, reports Alphaliner.

"On the sellers` side, German and Japanese owners were the most active, accounting for 45 per cent of the vessels and 50 per cent of the tonnage sold during the period, said the Paris maritime consultancy.


Distressed sales have not been as prevalent as anticipated, said its newsletter. "0nly a few forced sales were recorded, led by New York-based Eastwind Maritime`s disposal of 14 aging units following its Chapter 7 petition in June 2009."


Germans were the most numerous sellers, accounting for 29 per cent of the total number of ships sold since January 2009.


Several carriers also reduced their exposure to the container market, with Russia`s Fesco leading the way. Fesco sold nine ships of 1,000-1,200 TEU to rebuild its weakened balance sheet.


Other seller carriers were CMA CGM (seven ships), NYK (six ships), Maersk (three ships), K Line (three ships) and MOL (two ships). For CMA CGM and Maersk, the vessels were on sale-leaseback arrangements, but arrangements are rare because of the lack of liquidity in the market.


Among the buyers, Greeks were the most active in the market with a number of owners re-entering the containership sector after having been out of the market for a number of years. Chinese buyers have also emerged in recent months, mostly seeking small to medium sized vessels of below 20 years for re-flagging to the Chinese register to serve the domestic trades.