Concordia puts product tanker to boxship conversion plan on holdConcordia puts product tanker to boxship conversion plan on hold

Back in February this year Concordia announced it was studying the feasibility of converting a P-Max product tanker into a 2,100 teu containership. Given the extreme shortage of containership tonnage in the market boxship charter rates were, and remain, sky-high making it a potentially attractive, if unusual, proposition. Meanwhile back in February the product tanker market was in the doldrums.

However, in the company’s second quarter report Erik Lewenhaupt, CEO of Concordia, said it had decided to put the container project on hold.

“The technical study shows that it is technically feasible to convert P-MAX vessels into 2,100 teu container vessels, but the increasing economic uncertainty has made it difficult to reach an agreement with an end customer,” he said.

“However, we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to increase both the return and value from our vessels wherever possible.”

Concordia’s P-MAX tankers are wider MR tankers designed to operate in shallower waters than a standard MR; it has nine of the vessels which were delivered between 2005 and 2011 and are between MR and Panamax in cargo capacity.

The product tanker market has seen major improvement in the second quarter of the year with the average MR spot rate rising from $19,000 per day at the start of Q2 to $43,000 per day by the end of June.

Related:Concordia evaluates tanker to containership conversion