News / Older smaller box ships may soon be forming a queue for the scrapyards

Photo: TS Lines

The return of freight rates to pre-pandemic levels means small containerships are becoming uneconomic on liner trades, where operating costs remain elevated.

Consequently, voyage results for smaller  box ships on long-haul liner trades have swung from being highly profitable to racking up huge losses as the revenue per box and load factors have fallen.

Recent weeks have seen the closure of CULines’ Asia-North Europe express service, operated jointly with TS Lines, which deployed seven 4,100 teu to 4,400 teu ships. And the resurrected ...