Wan Hai Lines has apparently gotten over US$32 million after finalising the demolition sale of 10 elderly boxships, as the recycling of container vessels accelerates.
Ship brokers report that after an open tender, the Taiwanese liner operator has sold four 1,088 TEU 160-type ships built between 1996 and 1998, as well as six 1994-built 200-type ships with a box capacity of 1,368 TEUs. These are the oldest vessels among Wan Hai-owned fleet of 112 ships.
An undisclosed cash buyer has agreed to pay US$510/ldt to take the ships to a green recycling yard in Alang, India. Based on the total light displacement tonnage of 63,210, the total price is in excess of US$32 million.
Wan Hai has stated that it will not disclose additional information about the transaction. The Taiwan Stock Exchange requires listed companies to disclose transactions involving at least US$33 million.
Greek broker Intermodal noted that India is now the chosen destination to break up ships, due to liquidity issues in Bangladesh and Pakistan that have impeded scrap yards from obtaining US$-denominated letters of credit to purchase vessels.
The Indian rupee strengthened at 80.9 from 83 against the dollar last week, and with firming steel plate prices in India, are encouraging scrap yards to buy vessels.
Intermodal expects the challenging freight market to convince more owners to scrap older boxships. “We’re already witnessing a strong supply of containers with a total of 11 units being sold for demolition last week,” said Intermodal.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
