Seacastle reefers sold

Alkmaar-based DynaLiners’ latest report on the east and southern African container trades paints a bullish picture for its future outlook, with two- way container flows to/from region projected to increase by over 52% in the next five years.

Tokyo-headquartered SoftBank Group Corp is to acquire New York-based Fortress Investment Group LLC for approximately US$3.3B in cash.

These are worrying times for ocean carriers, with spot rates in many trades at historic lows. Data published by the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) Shipping Exchange reveal that to date, 2015 has seen prices for ocean transport plummet on several routes.

Japan-based Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has raised US$300M for its MC Seamax Shipping Opportunities Fund (SSOF), which will acquire, manage and then charter out container vessels.

The demand for new containers is expected to strengthen in the next two/three years according to Charles-Hadrien Lassalle, associate director, shipping and intermodal, ABN AMRO Bank NV’s Singapore Branch.

Fortress Investment Group (FIG) has acquired Immoconsult Asset Leasing GmbH, the container leasing arm of part-nationalised Austrian bank, österreichische Volksbanken AG (VBAG). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.