Shipping Corporation of India to buy container ships

Shipping Corporation of India is looking to acquire at least five container vessels to replace the ones it is operating on charter hire even though freight rates in the segment may take long to stabilise.

India’s largest shipping firm has floated several tenders to buy resale and second-hand vessels and has placed orders with shipyards for building new ones, JN Das, director - liner and passenger segment, said on Tuesday.

“We have floated tenders. The rest will depend on the response we get for them and the price quoted. As of now we operate five to seven vessels on charter; the new vessels will basically be used to replace them,” Das said.

Das said it generally takes a month to close a deal after the last date of submitting the tenders, but the company may expedite the process if the deal is good enough and also if it needs to replace a chartered vessel sooner.

The company has floated three separate tenders to acquire one container vessel capable of carrying 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), another of capacity 6,500 TEUs, and a smaller one of 3,600 TEUs.

The company has extended the last date for closing the tenders to June 21 from June 15 because of a lukewarm response, a senior official said.

The company said it is looking for vessels from reputed yards on immediate delivery basis as well as those under construction.
“...although bidders can offer vessels up to 10 year old, preference would be given for vessels up to 5 year old,” Shipping Corporation said in the tender documents.

Meanwhile, the company has also floated another tender inviting shipyards to build two 6,500 TEUs container ships with an option to build one more similar vessel. In May, the public sector shipping firm had to call off tenders to buy tankers after it failed to get a good response and “reasonable” price.