News / PCTC charter rates hit record highs as capacity stays tight

Photo: Wallenius Wilhelmsen

It now costs a record $110,000 a day to charter a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) for a year – a more than six-fold surge from pre-Covid-19 levels of $17,000/day.

Clarksons’ latest Shipping Intelligence Weekly, released on Friday, noted that tonnage remained tight amid a recovery in vehicle shipments.

During the pandemic, there was under-investment in PCTC newbuildings, as movement restrictions slashed demand for new vehicles, resulting in many older PCTCs being scrapped.

Last year, 90 PCTCs of 560,000 car-equivalent units were ...