Christmas run-up brings little cheer to charter market

Time:2010-11-01 Browse:39 Author:RISINGSUN

AS daily hire rates drop on all trades, a development that is starting to affect the containership charter market, brokers have been instructed by owners to fix at "best possible" on a short-term basis to ride out the trough and await an expected pick up in trade following the Chinese New Year holidays in early February, reports London`s Containerisation International.

It said charter rates have softened again since late September/early October on all sectors of the market "and do not look like recovering any time soon," it said.


"The situation has been compounded, and sentiment affected, by recent announcements from the likes of the Grand Alliance and Maersk Line which have proactively culled 10 per cent of their total capacity on the blue-chip Asia-Europe trade lane, rather than give in to lower rate demands from shippers," the report said.


Many charters are not expected to be extended after carriers redeploy ships on other trades and receive additional newbuildings, particularly, as global idled containership capacity has risen to 289,000 TEU, according to Alphaliner`s figures.