News / Scrapping plans abandoned as 'aggressive' box carriers hunt available tonnage

Photo 78887651 © Bayazid Akter - Dreamstime.com

Containership demolition virtually dried up in December as shipowners and carriers deployed all available tonnage to meet surging demand across trades.

Huge spikes in ocean freight rates in the second half of last year and corresponding hikes in charter hire rates enabled previously uneconomic smaller containerships to become sought-after by carriers desperate to plug gaps in their networks and take advantage of the demand boom.

And with low bunker prices, fuel efficiency was the least of the requirements of potential charterers.

According to ...