JOC staff | Jun 07, 2010 5:24PM EDT
Charter operator Euroseas, joining an increasingly lively market for container ships, announced the purchase Monday of a used Handysize vessel, bringing its fleet to 16 ships.
The Greek operator also said it signed a time charter agreement for up to 11 months for a feeder vessel smaller feeder vessel, a 20-year-old 1,169-TEU ship for $6,800 a day, 50 percent more than the ship has been getting under an existing charter.
The deals for Euroseas follow additions announced last week at Seaspan, the charter operator that made its first new container ship purchase in three years and disclosed another agreement for a larger vessel.
Euroseas says its purchase of a 12-year-old, 2,008-TEU ship comes as the charter market is showing greater strength.
"Recent developments indicate that containerized trade growth is approaching pre-crisis levels and market charter rates have started increasing," said Aristides Pittas, chairman and CEO of Euroseas. "In fact, rates on bigger vessels are well above their lows."
