YINZHOU, China – The Chinese furniture manufacturer that bought its own container ship in early 2022 to navigate the extreme shipping delays of the pandemic has sold the ship.
Loctek Ergonomic, a manufacturer of sit/stand desks and office furniture, paid $32.6 million to a Chinese company to build the ship back in 2022. Now, it has sold the ship to Greek shipper Minerva Marine for $31 million.
In 2022, Loctek said it bought the ship to compensate for a “surge” in online sales and to accelerate the development of its business with the U.S. According to supply chain publication Loadstar, shipping experts were skeptical of Loctek’s decision to buy the ship at the time, saying that the company’s management “didn’t comprehend the risks of ship owning” and that container rates would end up normalizing.
When Loctek commissioned the ship, spot rates averaged $9,378 per 40-foot container, according to rate tracker Drewry. But when the ship’s construction was completed in March 2023, rates had fallen to an average of $3,529.
It’s unclear if Loctek ever used the ship to transport its furniture. According to VesselsValue, the ship was chartered to French ocean carrier giant CMA CGM for six months in 2023 for $16,000 a day.
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