News / Idle tonnage fleet set to soar next year as charter rates tumble

© Thattaphon Sukborwornophat

Just 12 months ago, the 2009-built 4,253 teu Synergy Oakland was preparing to commence a two-month charter with Hapag-Lloyd at a rate of $160,000 a day.

Incredible as it may seem, for a classic panamax ship fortunate to achieve $10,000 a day before the pandemic, the charter with the German carrier meant the shipowner was ’taking a haircut’ on its previous fixture, which saw it earn $202,000 a day for a three-month charter, banking $18m of revenue.

Moreover, Euroseas Shipping, a Greece-based ...