Newsroom Blog
A HUGE amount of money is said to be circling the container shipping industry waiting to pounce on some bargains.
Both new and secondhand tonnage could be of interest to venture capitalists looking for an inexpensive way into the industry, and liner operators after some cheap ships. So far, though, not much has happened.
A few boxships have changed hands, but not a lot, partly because there are few sellers around.
That may seem surprising at first glance, but right now it is in virtually no-one’s interest to dispose of assets, regardless of financial pressures, because of the record low prices that buyers would expect to pay.
But has Hanjin Heavy Industries broken the spell by re-selling a 6,500 teu newbuilding after CMA CGM failed to complete the purchase?
The shipyard has already shown that it is prepared to engage in some tough tactics with recalcitrant customers, threatening last year to auction three ships that Iranian line IRISL was struggling to pay for.
In the end, IRISL seems to have found the money and is in the process of taking delivery of the trio. Presumably, Hanjin Heavy hopes that by selling off one of the ships that CMA CGM had ordered, the French line and its banks will be shocked into coming up with the cash for the other two rather than lose downpayments.
But the price of just over $40m for a post-panamax ship will set a benchmark that could send the fragile house of cards tumbling down.
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