The near\nchaos in the supply chain brought about by the pandemic has plunged the\nshipping industry into a totally new order of things far removed from the\nsector\u2019s normal economic cycles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Worldwide\nport congestion, at a level and extent hitherto unseen, is prompting new types\nof behaviour at every step along the transport chain. An erratic market,\ncombined with supply and demand antics, has resulted in a shortage of vessels,\nwith a knock-on effects that has meant a heyday for non-operator owners. Charter\nprices have gone through the roof, with some reaching a historical high of\nUS$200,000 per day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\ndizzying increase has led to a record number of transactions and behaviour that\nthreatens to upset the balance between charter and ownership. To protect itself\nfrom these swings, Marfret has always managed to include the right measure of\neach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a\ntemptation today to give in to the siren call of the highest bidder, either by increasing\ncharter rates to astronomical amounts or selling off ships at indecent prices. Concepts\nsuch as \u201cmy word is my bond\u201d and a handshake to seal a deal have all been\nconsigned to the dustbin! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marfret\u2019s MedCar line was a recent victim of these practices, with a shipowner bidding top money to acquire the Skiathos<\/em>, which we had had on charter for the past two years. In order to protect our capacities on this trade, we immediately responded by chartering the Konrad<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the\nissue of balance in mind, Marfret has redoubled its efforts in terms of fleet\nstrategy. Just prior to the steep rise in vessel prices, we acquired the\ncontainer ship Marius<\/em> (formerly Nordmaple<\/em>), operated on our NASP line, bringing\nthe number of our vessels in ownership to eight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, almost all the Group\u2019s lines are operated in ownership. By the end of this year, the MedCar will no longer be the exception, with the Konrad<\/em> being replaced by the Durande<\/em>, which is returning to operations on the line exactly 10 years after it left. A new horizon has appeared, with a strong market in view until at least 2023. The time for Marfret as shipowner is ripe, with the promise of new opportunities, new markets and new lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guillaume VIDIL <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The near chaos in the supply chain brought about by the pandemic has plunged the shipping industry into a totally new order of things far removed from the sector\u2019s normal economic cycles. Worldwide port congestion, at a level and extent hitherto unseen, is prompting new types of behaviour at every step along the transport chain. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":5552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n