In the first quarter of 2011, the changing hands of many mega boxships lifted the transaction volume of the secondhand in the period to $ 10bn, a new high in the latest three years. In the first three months, the traded containership capacity came up to 100,000teu with a value of $10bn, higher that the record of Q1 2008 which is 57.785teu with $11bn.
Opportunistic buyers especially the Hellenic shipowners, coupled with the gradually warming up chartering market, pushed up the price of secondhand containerships. In the past six months, Clarkson’s average evaluation for five-year 3,500teu containership was $4350, much higher than $2,600 for Q1 2010.
Compared with secondhand containership, the price of secondhand tanker and over-capacity bulker carriers has been keeping the declining sentiment from the beginning of this year.