Singapore's APL, the container shipping arm of Neptune Orient Lines, has sold its third panamax containership this year, the 4,729-TEU APL Garnet, that was delivered in 1995 to Diana Containerships for US$30 million with a 34-month charter back to APL for $27,000 per day.
Two sister ships, the APL Sardonyx and APL Spinel, were sold back in January to Diana Containerships for $30 million each, but with a lower charter rate of $24,750 per day for 24 months, Alphaliner reports.
"The transaction is interesting for several reasons, as the acquisition price of $30 million is well above the current market value for such ships, which is estimated at between $15 million to $20 million," said Alphaliner.
"The high price reflects the high charter rate that APL has agreed to pay. Current rates stand at between $9,000-10,000/day for 6-12 months charters with longer periods of two years roughly valued 40-50 per cent above this rate, although there is no market activity currently for such periods to ascertain it," said the Alphaliner note.
The high sale price will enable APL to avoid taking a loss against book value, although this will be offset by the higher charter rate it must pay to Diana. It said these moves are afoot because the Singaporean shipping line is shifting towards deploying larger vessels. Its newbuilding programme includes twelve 9,200-TEU ships, ten 10,070- to 10,700-TEU vessels, and ten 13,800-TEU boxships, said Alphaliner.
Diana Containerships has since 2010 been focused on acquiring mid-sized panamax containerships in the 3,400- to 4,700-TEU range, the Shipping Gazette.
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