$2.3 billion long-term charter of ten Chinese-made container ships
Israeli shipping company ZIM has entered into long-term charter agreements with Containers Ventures Holdings, led by George Economou, and Idan Ofer's Kenon Holdings for a total of 10 new LNG dual-fuel container ships.
Containers Ventures Holdings, part of Economou's TMS group, will provide seven vessels. At the end of February this year, Changhong International announced that it had won a large order for up to 10 LNG dual-fuel container ships from Economou, worth about $1.4 billion, which is not only the first time for the shipyard to cooperate with the Greek shipping king, but also marks the official return of Economou to the container ship sector.
The remaining three vessels will be supplied by Kenon Holdings, of which Idan Ofer is the largest shareholder. Kenon was once ZIM's largest shareholder and still holds a significant stake until the end of 2024.
Eli Glickman, President and CEO of ZIM, said the partnership is a key step in strengthening the company's LNG dual fuel fleet: "These agreements secure our ship source availability on key ship types while further strengthening our core LNG dual fuel fleet." Expanding our LNG dual fuel fleet helps us meet our carbon reduction targets and further establishes ZIM as the industry leader in carbon intensity reduction."
According to Alphaliner, ZIM is currently the ninth largest liner company in the world with a market share of 2.4%. As of its latest financial results, the company's fleet consisted of 128 container ships, most of which are chartered, with a combined capacity of 784,000 TEU. It is worth noting that LNG-powered container ships account for about 40% of ZIM's overall capacity.
The new charter program comes on the heels of the delivery of all 46 new vessels ordered by ZIM between 2021 and 2022, demonstrating the continuation of ZIM's strategy of continuously modernizing and enhancing the environmental attributes of its fleet.
MB Shipbrokers said in its latest weekly report that the overall performance of the container ship market is stable, but as expected, there has been a slight slowdown in recent charter activity. Although there is still uncovered demand across all ship segments, especially for feeder ships that remain active, the overall charter pace is beginning to become more conservative.
In terms of larger vessels, there is currently a scarcity of vessels that are still on lease in 2025, and although there are negotiations in the market, progress is slow due to the uncertainty of tariff policy and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Last week, the United States announced that it would impose wide-ranging new tariffs on global imports, triggering a chain reaction in multiple markets. The impact of tariffs on the US local economy is difficult to avoid, the market is expected to slow down or even recession, and related trade with the US may bear the brunt, and the container shipping industry may be affected in the short term.
Containers Ventures Holdings, part of Economou's TMS group, will provide seven vessels. At the end of February this year, Changhong International announced that it had won a large order for up to 10 LNG dual-fuel container ships from Economou, worth about $1.4 billion, which is not only the first time for the shipyard to cooperate with the Greek shipping king, but also marks the official return of Economou to the container ship sector.
The remaining three vessels will be supplied by Kenon Holdings, of which Idan Ofer is the largest shareholder. Kenon was once ZIM's largest shareholder and still holds a significant stake until the end of 2024.
Eli Glickman, President and CEO of ZIM, said the partnership is a key step in strengthening the company's LNG dual fuel fleet: "These agreements secure our ship source availability on key ship types while further strengthening our core LNG dual fuel fleet." Expanding our LNG dual fuel fleet helps us meet our carbon reduction targets and further establishes ZIM as the industry leader in carbon intensity reduction."
According to Alphaliner, ZIM is currently the ninth largest liner company in the world with a market share of 2.4%. As of its latest financial results, the company's fleet consisted of 128 container ships, most of which are chartered, with a combined capacity of 784,000 TEU. It is worth noting that LNG-powered container ships account for about 40% of ZIM's overall capacity.
The new charter program comes on the heels of the delivery of all 46 new vessels ordered by ZIM between 2021 and 2022, demonstrating the continuation of ZIM's strategy of continuously modernizing and enhancing the environmental attributes of its fleet.
MB Shipbrokers said in its latest weekly report that the overall performance of the container ship market is stable, but as expected, there has been a slight slowdown in recent charter activity. Although there is still uncovered demand across all ship segments, especially for feeder ships that remain active, the overall charter pace is beginning to become more conservative.
In terms of larger vessels, there is currently a scarcity of vessels that are still on lease in 2025, and although there are negotiations in the market, progress is slow due to the uncertainty of tariff policy and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Last week, the United States announced that it would impose wide-ranging new tariffs on global imports, triggering a chain reaction in multiple markets. The impact of tariffs on the US local economy is difficult to avoid, the market is expected to slow down or even recession, and related trade with the US may bear the brunt, and the container shipping industry may be affected in the short term.
