Höegh Autoliners ASA has agreed with the owner of the leased vessel Höegh Berlin to terminate the bareboat charter and purchase the vessel, for a purchase price of USD 34.25 million. The vessel was taken over on 1 March 2023. The average market value of the vessel estimated by three different brokers was USD 59 million per end of Q4 2022, according to the company's release.
Höegh Berlin was built by Höegh at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (“DSME”) in 2005 and has a capacity of 7,850 CEU and is one of a series of vessels Höegh built at DSME between 2004 and 2010. The vessel was sold in 2009 and chartered back to Höegh Autoliners under a bareboat charter agreement. This is the fifth bareboat chartered vessel the company has purchased back in less than a year, and the other 4 are Höegh Beijing, Höegh Tracer, Höegh Trapper and Höegh St. Petersburg.
The purchase of Höegh Berlin will reduce the long-term cash capacity cost for the vessel as well as realise additional value gains from taking direct ownership to leased vessels. The company intends to register her under the Norwegian flag (NIS) after the transfer of ownership. This will bring Höegh Autoliners’ number of vessels registered in NIS to 28 out of 31 in its technically managed fleet, solidifying its position as one of the largest owners in terms of the deadweight ton (DWT) in the NIS register.
Höegh Autoliners is a leading global provider of RoRo (Roll On Roll Off) transportation services delivering cars, high and heavy and breakbulk cargoes across the world. The company operates around 40 RoRo vessels in global trade systems and makes about 3 000 port calls each year.