FOR the first time NileDutch has chartered vessels larger than 3,635 TEU, after securing the 4,380 TEU Stadt Marburg and the 4,252 TEU Osaka Tower to operate its East Asia-South Africa-Angola service, starting from the end of March and early April, respectively.
The pair of gearless panamax ships will replace 3,100-3,400 TEU vessels. The shipping line is expected to charter more ships of at least this size, following the rapid introduction by competitors of ever-larger container vessels on the Asia-West Africa trade, reported Alphaliner.
The Stadt Marburg, controlled by Thien & Heyenga, has been fixed for one round voyage of 3.5 months, and the Osaka Tower controlled by EP Shipping has been chartered for a flexible period of up to six months.
Two weeks ago, CMA CGM and Maersk Line announced they were upgrading five weekly container services on the trade lane by deploying a fleet of 61 containerships ranging from 3,600 to 5,700 TEU.
The two NileDutch ships are chartered at depressed rates of US$7,000, compared to $9,500 for the 3,000-3,500 TEU geared vessels that NileDutch usually employs.
The carrier will this year take delivery of four geared 3,500-TEU newbuildings ordered for its own account from China's Shanghai Shipyard in late 2010.
The ships are expected to be phased into the company's East Asia-South Africa-Angola service, replacing chartered tonnage, although they could also be used on its Europe-West Africa service, currently run with 2,500-TEU ships.
WORLD SHIPPING
05 March 2014 - 09:32
NileDutch starts to operate Asia-Africa service with larger ships
FOR the first time NileDutch has chartered vessels larger than 3,635 TEU, after securing the 4,380 TEU Stadt Marburg and the 4,252 TEU Osaka Tower to operate its East Asia-South Africa-Angola service, starting from the end of March and early April, respectively.
WORLD SHIPPING
05 March 2014 - 09:32
NileDutch starts to operate Asia-Africa service with larger ships
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