With rates at $200,000 per day, have containerships peaked?

Asiatic Lloyd & Atlantic Lloyd (AL) group has emerged as the latest owner to benefit from record charter rates of $200,000 per day.

But the impressive figure obscures the fact that some charterers remain on the sidelines in the hope that freight and charter markets will ease, raising questions over whether rates have peaked.

A slowdown of the astonishing 18-month rally for container shipping has not prevented some spectacular short-term fixtures by some of the industry's newer charterers.