News / Furniture maker Loctek’s vertical integration ends as boxship sold

Little Dolphin Photo: VesselFinder

Chinese furniture maker Loctek Ergonomic Technology, which raised eyebrows when it ordered a 1,800 teu boxship to manage logistical bottlenecks during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022, has ended up selling the ship.

The ship cost $32.8m and was initially named Lecangs Dolphin upon its delivery from Huanghai Shipbuilding in early 2023. According to VesselsValue, Lecangs Dolphin was chartered to CMA CGM for $16,000/day for six months in April 2023.

Loctek has factories in Ningbo, China and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and had announced at the time that its 3PL subsidiary, Lecangs LLC (no relation to the LC Group), would operate the ship to carry furniture products to the US. The furniture maker explained that the move resolved supply chain issues and fulfilled surging ecommerce sales.

However, container freight rates began correcting later in 2022, a trend that continued to late 2023.

Market experts whom The Loadstar spoke to at the time were sceptical, opining that Loctek’s management did not comprehend the risks of ship owning, and the furniture maker had made a kneejerk reaction, as it was inevitable that container freight levels would normalise.

Last month, Loctek sold Lecangs Dolphin for $31m to Greek owner Minerva Marine, which renamed the vessel Little Dolphin. Early this month, the ship was chartered to TS Lines for $25,000/day for six months.

The only other known case of a shipper turning ship owner during the pandemic-induced boom was German supermarket chain Lidl, which established Tailwind Shipping Lines in April 2022. Subsequently, Tailwind purchased the 2005-built 5,500 teu Panda 001 and 2007-built 803 teu Panda 002. Tailwind has also chartered a number of post-Panamax and feeder ships to support its operations.

Other retailers, such as Home Depot, Costco, Walmart and Ikea, chartered container ships to carry their goods, but stopped when the pandemic-fuelled boom ended.