MPC is continuing to clear out its fleet and is once again parting with three older ships. The buyer is, how could it be otherwise, MSC.
MPC only recently scrapped three other ships. The “AS Flora” (1,221 TEU, year of construction: 2005), “AS Roberta” (1,440 TEU, 2006) and “AS Rafaela” (1,440 TEU, 2007) went “en bloc” to the Turkish shipping company Arkas. [ds_preview]
Now three more ships are leaving the fleet, reports the industry service Alphaliner. Once again, MSC has come into the picture. The Aponte shipping company has already acquired more than 320 ships on the second-hand market since summer 2020 and had become the No. 1 in international container shipping as a result.
MPC has to accept lower prices
Specifically, the deal involves the sister ships “AS Petra” and “AS Paulina” (both built in 2004), each with 2,500 TEU, and the “AS Pauline” (built in 2006) with 2,572 TEU. The purchase price is quoted at USD 25.5 million, which would represent a new low for ships of this size on the S&P market.
With the acquisition of these three ships, MSC has acquired 48 second-hand ships this year alone. While the “AS Pauline” has already been chartered out to MSC, the “AS Petra” and “AS Paulina” are currently still sailing for the US carrier Seaboard Marine.
