Financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the container ship time charter business

Abstract

This study examines the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the container ship time charter business. In this context, the container charter transactions were derived from the Clarksons Research Database, which included the ship types, daily charter fees, ship ages, and total charter days. The empirical analysis employed the K-Means Algorithm to cluster the observations in which the elbow curves revealed three cluster centers in the pre-COVID period and four in the post-COVID era, respectively. Based on the industry-wide used threshold definitions, the clusters were then named according to the mean value of given features. In addition, the relative weight of each cluster was disclosed based on the number of transactions falling into the respective cluster. Accordingly, the pre-COVID period clusters were described as intermediate-rated middle-termed young-aged intermediate-TEU container ships; low-rated middle-termed middle-aged feeders; and intermediate-rated long-termed middle-aged upper intermediate-TEU container ships. As for the post-COVID era, the cluster definitions were determined as intermediate-rated middle-termed young-aged feeders; intermediate-rated middle-termed old-aged feeders; high-rated long-termed middle-aged intermediate-TEU container ships; and high-rated short-termed middle-aged intermediate-TEU container ships. The findings suggested that the pandemic boosted the demand for relatively lower TEU container ships such as the feeders in which the criterium of ship age lost its importance due to availability reasons in the market. In addition, the pandemic led to higher charter rates which was a prioritized factor over the charter period.