SIMIC

Some 266 ships have been acquired by major carriers in the past year, led by Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), which has acquired 115 second-hand vessels.

CMA CGM acquired 48 second-hand vessels since January 1, chartering 13 ships.

Zim Integrated Shipping Services acquired seven ships in October, as well as the chartering of 17 ships since July.

Maersk has increased its capacity by five ships in the first nine months, growing its chartered capacity 11 per cent to 428 vessels.

Hapag-Lloyd acquired six second-hand ships in 2021 and chartered another 20 vessels.

High demand and elevated rate levels guarantee vessels will be full and profitable, while the high cost of charters is driving the second-hand ship market.

"We are targeting a double-digit reduction in unit costs and to increase the average number of ships deployed also by a double-digit percentage to make us more competitive," said Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen.

"It won't come from a merger, but from new ships that we order," said Mr Jansen.

The Hapag-Lloyd order book currently stands at 20 per cent of its active fleet of 1.7 million TEU. Among the ships on order are twelve 23,000-TEU vessels and ten 13,000-TEU vessels.