Evangelos Marinakis’
CCECC announced on 23 September that it sold Hyundai Paramount, Hyundai
Platinum, Hyundai Premium, Hyundai Prestige and Hyundai Privilege. The sales price was not disclosed, although
CCECC expects to book a gain of US$118.4 million on the ships, as the attached
loans have been repaid.
HMM’s spokesperson
told Container News: “HMM is currently in the process of
acquiring ships. This initiative is part
of our mid-to long-term plan to secure our fleet by 2030.“
The purchase is part
of the company’s earlier announced plan to expand its fleet by 1.55 million
TEUs by 2030, as part of a US$16 billion investment scheme. Early this month,
HMM confirmed to Container News that it was negotiating to buy
three elderly feeder vessels too.
According to
VesselsValue, HMM had been chartering the ships since their ex-yard deliveries
in 2013, initially for US$28,616/day. When the company fell into financial
difficulties in 2016, it renegotiated all its long-term ship charters, bringing
down the rate to US$23,010/day. In January 2020, the vessel hires were renewed
for five years and two months, at the original rate of US$28,616/day.
VesselsValue estimated
each ship has a market value of about US$ 57 million, but HMM is likely to have
obtained a competitive price. In recent months, other mainline operators, such
as MSC and Yang Ming, have bought chartered ships to grow their owned fleet
while managing rising charter costs.
CCECC stated that
selling the container ships is fully consistent with the strategy outlined in
November 2023 to pivot the company toward gas transportation. The company
remains involved in the container shipping sector with three 13,000 TEU vessels
in its fleet. CCECC added that the appreciation in valuations of container
ships enables the company to generate value for shareholders.