Container Services: Rates Restoration Attempts

The worldwide container ships chartering activity at the end of August - the beginning of September has considerably increased. But practically it had no effect neither on rates level, nor on charter indexes level. Therefore before traditional season peak carriers try to lift the tariffs again.

Time - charter rates for ships with capacity of 1100-1700 TEU in the beginning of September exceeded a little $4000 per day, and for container ships with capacity of 2500 TEU - $5000 per day, i.e. rather insignificant start range of rates for tonnage of various standard size is still observed.

Against time - charter rates, tariffs of container lines for the basic directions of transportations, to compensate losses of linear operators in any way, rushing grow. However, it does not mean, that rates really will be raised, anyway, in the declared size. At the best real tariffs growth can be no more than two thirds of declared size. At the same time, in analysts opinion to reach a break-even level many tariffs should be increased not less, than by 50 %. But even in this case losses of container transportations can take place until 2011.

According to AXS Alphaliner, at the end of August combined tonnage with capacity of 1,27 million TEU was idled that makes 9,9 % of world container fleet.
At the same time seven carriers managed even to increase own fleet.