SIMIC

DENMARK's Maersk Line has been actively chartering vessels in recent weeks, as it tries to close the gap with its rival Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which displaced the former at the top of the liner rankings last year.

Maersk has committed to at least six ships in the last fortnight as charter rates continued to soften at a rapid pace, reports Hyderabad's Maritime Gateway.



Linerlytica noted that Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corporation, which has also been expanding its capacity, sublet one of its chartered ships, the SFL-owned 13,808 TEU Thalassa Elpida, to Maersk. The terms of the fixture are confidential, although it is known that Maersk will have the ship for three months.



In a similar fashion, in mid-October, Evergreen's compatriot Yang Ming Marine Transport fixed one of its chartered ships, a Costamare-owned 12,690 TEU vessel, to Maersk for US$57,000/day for a year.



Linerlytica said: "Maersk has been particularly active in the past week as it tries to make up for lost ground against its main rival MSC, taking several ships for loaders to the US East Coast and South America."



Other ships recently chartered to Maersk include Zodiac Maritime's 2003-built, 4,252 TEU Nagoya Tower, which is going to the Danish operator for two to six months, for $17,000/day.



A recent commission for a 5,900 TEU quartet at Tsuneishi Shipbuilding in Japan has been attributed to Japanese tonnage provider Nissen Kaiun, which is reported to have agreed to charter the ships to Maersk.



The Danish operator has also been chartering feeder vessels, such as the newly built 1,781 TEU Celandine from Hadley Shipping, for $12,000/day for two to four months.