A lack of optimism over demand for container shipping has caused First Ship Lease Trust (FSLT) to retreat from the segment, with the sales of its last three container vessels.
The Singapore-listed shipping trust disclosed that the 2008-built 4,250TEU vessels, FSL Eminence (ex-YM Eminence), FSL Elixir (YM Elixir) and YM Enhancer, were sold for an undisclosed price on 5 August, to an unidentified buyer.
According to Vessels Value, the ships have a market value of between US$7.49 – US$7.85 million each, close to their scrap value.
Explaining the move, FSL Trust’s CFO Markus Wenker told Container News: “Two of the containerships have finished their charters and the third is about to finish the charter in October.”
According to Wenker the containership market has changed dramatically since the outbreak of Covid-19 with no time frame for the normalisation of the market.
“It is difficult to predict how the situation with the Covid-19 pandemic will evolve,” said Wenker.
After considering all the employment options available, the company concluded the best solution for FSL Trust was “to close the position and sell the containerships,” added the CFO.
FSL Trust added that the company currently has no plans to acquire more modern containerships in the current market environment, without a long-term charter with financially strong counterparties. It remains involved in the tanker market.
Wenker added that FSL Trust have no immediate plans to re-enter the container sector, however, if a situation arose where there was a project that included the long-term charter of container ships, the company would give serious consideration to that project.
On 20 May and 16 June, FSL Eminence and FSL Elixir were redelivered to FSL Trust by charterers Yang Ming, while the YM Enhancer is chartered until October 2020 and is then expected to be delivered to its buyer.
Martina Li
Asian Correspondent
