Wan Hai Lines Selling 10 Containerships for Scrap

Taiwanese shipping company Wan Hai Lines is putting ten of its oldest feeder containerships up for sale for demolition, representing approximately 10% of its owned fleet by number of vessels.

Wan Hai has invited cash buyers to bid on the vessels with the understanding that they will be demolished at one of ten Hong Kong Convention-certified recycling yards identified by Wan Hai Lines. Bids must be submitted by December 16 and deliveries to the winners will take place between January 13 and February 25.

Vessels included in the sale are the Wan Hai 161, 162, 163 and 165, which were built in 1996 and 1998 with capacities of 1,088 TEUs; and Wan Hai 215, 216, 221, 222, 223 and 225, which were built in 1994 with capacities of 1,368 TEUs.

With the easing of the container shipping market and a wave of new containerships hitting the water in 2023, Drewry is forecasting near-record levels of demolitions in 2023 as carriers enter a period of “managed decline”. With new environmental regulations looming, older, less-efficient “feeder” ships are considered good candidates for scrapping.

According to Alphaliner, Wan Hai Lines is the world’s 11th largest containership operator with 39 new ships on order representing 279,000 TEUs capacity, corresponding to 64% of its existing fleet by capacity.

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