News / Box ship charter market – heated for so long – shows signs of cooling

Photo: MSC

The impact of reduced volumes from China and weakening demand forecasts from the US and Europe is cooling the red-hot containership charter market, with brokers talking of a correction.

A broker contact told The Loadstar today new enquiries for open tonnage were “down to a trickle” and some owners that had played the lucrative spot market were becoming “a little nervous”.

“Hire rates for the small sizes are falling and that will eventually filter through to the bigger ships,” he said.

“A couple ...