Post-pandemic peak sees frenzied ship buying in 2024

Mainline operators, led by MSC, were very active in buying second-hand container ships in 2024, as freight rates reached levels not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Alphaliner’s report.

MSC purchased 70 vessels, ranging from 1,300 to 14,700 TEUs for a total of 330,000 TEUs, representing a third of all the ships sold. In November 2024, the Swiss-Italian operator hit the symbolic threshold of 400 second-hand container vessel acquisitions since August 2020, when the shipping company embarked on an unprecedented ship buying spree as it marched towards dethroning Maersk Line atop the liner rankings.

CMA CGM was also actively purchasing ships, but to a smaller extent, with 15 buys, including those the French carrier was already chartering. These included five 2,259 TEU reefer vessels the Marseille-based company bought from Seatrade.

Other significant buyers included HMM (10 vessels), as well as tonnage providers MPC Container Ships – MPCC (nine ships) and Peter Döhle (six vessels, including three units of 9,956 TEUs from Capital Ship Management).

On the sellers’ side, the most active participants were German tonnage providers NSB Niederelbe and V Ships Hamburg which sold 12 vessels each. Greece-based Capital Ship Management, meanwhile, disposed of eleven ships and compatriot owner Contships Management let nine smaller feeder vessels go, with a view to replacing them with larger units.

Alison Koo
Asian Correspondent

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