Sentiment in the container ship charter market has turned bullish as charterers suck up the few remaining open post-Panamax and Panamax container vessels for the coming months. Shipbrokers in Hamburg, London, Copenhagen and Singapore reported a steep increase in fixing activity for large cellular ships at the end of January. More than a dozen vessels with slot capacities of at least 4,000teu are believed to have been fixed or extended within one week, led by MSC, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. The relatively brief phase between Christmas and the Lunar New Year holidays in the east has meant that plenty of tonnage requirements were simultaneously posted on the market, thus boosting owners' confidence, brokers explained.
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