Box ship charter markets continue to balance out

摘要

The pace of hire rate increases for chartered box ships remains high despite operators facing financial challenges because of overcapacity and a rate slump in the Far East's westbound trades. Average charter rates across the size classes from geared 1,100 teu to gearless 4,250 teu rose by 3.7% last week. As a result, the Hamburg Shipbrokers' Association market barometer was up a remarkable 19.5% month-on-month, driven primarily by fast-recovering rates for gearless 2,700 teu and geared 2,500 teu vessels. Both segments improved more than one-third compared with rate levels last month.