en.Wedoany.com Reported - Chinese shipowner BAL Container Line has adjusted the delivery schedule of its new 14,400 TEU vessel "BAL Athena," which was originally chartered to Maersk Line for deployment on the Gemini Asia-Europe AE3 service. The delivery has been postponed, and the vessel will instead be deployed on a temporary transpacific route. BAL had previously exited independent liner operations to focus on tonnage supply, and this marks a selective return to the trade segment.

According to container shipping consultancy Linerlytica, the "BAL Athena" will set sail on July 24, operating between China and the U.S. West Coast, calling at Ningbo, Shanghai, and Long Beach before returning to Shanghai. The move aims to capitalize on the current high transpacific spot freight rates. The vessel is expected to be delivered to Maersk in early September after completing this transpacific voyage.

BAL previously operated an independent China-Mexico service but suspended the liner service in January 2023 when freight rates fell from pandemic-era highs. Its parent company, LC Logistics, disclosed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 3 that it had sold the "BAL Athena" to CDB Financial Leasing through a sale-and-leaseback arrangement. The vessel is one of two ships ordered by the company in June 2024; the other was sold to Mediterranean Shipping Company in December of the same year for $170 million, netting BAL a profit of $25 million.

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) last Friday showed that freight rates from Shanghai to the U.S. West Coast rose 9% from June 26 to $6,630 per 40-foot container, while rates from Shanghai to the U.S. East Coast increased 12% to $8,296 per 40-foot container. However, Linerlytica noted that the SCFI data does not reflect market realities: "Transpacific freight rates remain very firm, and carriers have been able to maintain the July 1 general rate increase (GRI)." The analyst added that spot rates on the U.S. West Coast have exceeded $7,000 per 40-foot container, and East Coast rates have surpassed $8,600 per 40-foot container, levels not yet captured by the SCFI. The current early peak season has pushed Shanghai-U.S. West Coast rates to nearly four times the level of around $1,800 per 40-foot container seen in February.