News / Cash-rich Yang Ming splashes out on three more chartered ships

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Yang Ming has terminated the charters of three containerships, opting to buy them barely three years into the 10-year agreement.

The Taiwanese mainline operator said on Saturday it would pay $297m to acquire the vessels, whose names were not disclosed.

However, Yang Ming said in its filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange it was buying the ships from two Panama-incorporated entities, Cypress Maritime (Panama) and Paraiso Shipping,  and Singapore-based IS Container – all three understood to be controlled by the principals of Japanese tonnage provider Shoei Kisen Kaisha (SKK) and its shipbuilding affiliate, Imabari.

Cypress Maritime has three 12,000 teu ships on charter to Yang Ming – YM Together, YM Throne and YM Trillion – built between 2021 and 2022 and on a 10-year bareboat charter.

Vessel databases do not have any records of any ships Paraiso has chartered to Yang Ming, and IS Container has only the 2021-built 12,000 teu YM Trust on a 10-year bareboat charter to the carrier.

It is possible that Yang Ming could have been offered an attractive deal at $297m, as, according to VesselsValue, the three could be worth $380m.

The chartered ships are deployed on Yang Ming’s transpacific and Asia-South America services.

Last August, the carrier made a similar move, buying three 14,000 teu ships from entities controlled by SKK principals.

While its peers have been aggressively expanding fleets, Yang Ming has been conservative. Besides these acquisitions, the last time the carrier ventured into the pre-owned market was in 2008. Now, after the Covid-19-fuelled boom, like many liner operators Yang Ming is cash-rich and, as at 31 December, had cash holdings of $2.28bn.

And freight rates have now hit a post-pandemic high, thanks to the Red Sea crisis, meaning liner operators are looking at another windfall this year.

Furthermore, on Friday, shortly after releasing its Q1 24 results, Yang Ming stated that its directors have approved orders for more containers.