Greeks make plays for German second hand vessels in 2019

Greece has been buying most of their second hand purchases from Germany during 2019. So far this year, Germany has sold 17 second hand vessels to Greek owners, tying first place with Japanese sellers who have also handed over 17 vessels during the last five months.

Greek owner Contships has bought the highest number of second hand vessels so far in 2019, all of them German container vessels, bringing their total fleet number up to 37. Contships began buying second hand feedermax vessels in March 2016, growing their fleet from nine vessels to 37 today. They took ownership of their most recent acquisition, the Frisia Lahn, on the 21st May 2019.

All of Germany’s container sales this year have been bought by Greece. Historically, Greek owners buy most of their vessels from Japanese owners. While Germany has been the largest seller of container vessels since the financial crisis, Norway has been purchasing large number of vessels over the last two years, securing 26 vessels in 2018 and 38 in 2017.

Contships’ total fleet value over time since they started buying second hand feedermax vessels in March 2016

Contships Management’s Contship Ace
Image Source: Contships Management Inc

Source: VesselsValue