ZIM buys seven secondhand container ships for $320 million

Panamax class container ship of ZIM Shipping Line (Photo: Fleetmon)
 

Vessels purchased by ZIM Line include five traditional panamax vessels of 4,250 TEU size and two vessels of 1,100 TEU size.

Used container ship prices have risen sharply due to the capacity constraints of the container shipping industry. The traditional panamax ships were all depreciated a few years ago after the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2016. The ships of this class are only 10 years old and have been sent for scrap.

The seller of the seven ships in the $320 million transaction was not disclosed. ZIM mainly charters rather than buys, however, when the market is extremely tight for capacity and a traditional panamax vessel has recently been chartered at 200,000 USD per day

Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO, said: “Since going public our focus has been to allocate capital to strengthen our commercial prospects and create long-term shareholder value".

“With the opportunistic acquisition of these much-needed vessels, we have drawn on our strong cash position and our agile approach to maintain and expand our operating fleet to meet growing customer demand, while remaining committed to delivering industry superior profitability. Going forward, we will continue to complement our primary strategy of chartering-in the vast majority of our vessels, by selectively acquiring second-hand tonnage when the appropriate opportunities arise.”

See more:

• 10 crew members have abandoned the Zim Kingston, firefighting efforts continue
• ZIM Kingston vessel caught fire near Victoria, BC, Canada after losing many containers

Source: Phaata.com (According to SeatradeMaritime)

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