Danish logistics player DSV is combatting the shortage of space on boxships coming out of Asia by making a chartering move for multipurpose (MPP) ships.
The company told TradeWinds it had fixed three vessels of between 700 teu and 1,200 teu for a one-off voyage to Denmark from China this month.
"For now this is only for one trip with each of the three. I do not think we can call it a service," a DSV spokeswoman said.
"This is an extraordinary initiative, driven by the extreme lack of capacity in the market. And it is a good example of how our skilled freight forwarders can find solutions for our customers."
Lars Jensen, CEO and partner at Seaintelligence Consulting, revealed the deal on LinkedIn, pegging the vessels initially at around 650 teu.
'Extreme strength'
He called it "another indication of the current extreme strength of the Asia-Europe container trade".
DSV has also leased its own small pool of containers, Jensen added.
This circumvents the scarcity of vessel space and equipment which is plaguing the market, he said.
"Asia to North Europe is a trade lane which has developed to a point where the majority of vessels are super-post-panamax beyond 18,000 teu to provide a sufficiently low operating cost under normal circumstances," Jensen added.
"Hence the deployment of tiny 650-teu vessels is a good indication that freight rates have reached levels where unusual alternatives now become viable. This might also be an indication that we are approaching a test of the upper limits of the spot rates charged by the carriers."
Bram Noelmans, export customer service representative at Hong Kong container line Orient Overseas Container Line, called the development a "remarkable experiment".
Ships to be repositioned?
"My best guess at this moment is that these vessels needed repositioning to Europe anyway, and DSV [is] seeing the opportunity to make a real difference for some of their customers, and to make some money of course," he added.
Erik Jensby, head of business development and membership at Bimco, said that there is a shortage of resale boxes in the European Union.
"So they may even make a solid profit on one-way boxes if they get their hands on them in China," he said.
Robert Paul, country sales manager at Toll Global Forwarding, added that chartering vessels will resolve the space issue, but he questioned where the boxes were coming from.
"Shipping lines are making huge profits, then Mr X will come along, open another shipping line and we are back to rates going down," Paul added.
Balance needed
"My personal issue is that we have to find a balance where we can all make money. If rates are $6,000 to $8,000 [per day] it will ruin production, wholesales, retail and so on."
DSV is involved in freight forwarding, but does not own ships.
In 2019, the group signed an agreement to acquire Panalpina Welttransport in Germany.
The strength of the charter market was shown by Greek owner Euroseas, who revealed it had fixed three vessels at near decade-high levels.
Rates for the ships, of between 1,400 teu and 2,800 teu, doubled to as much as $18,650 per day.
