The Hansestadt’s broking community, the dominant force in the international containership charter market, has added another arrow to its quiver with the launch today of what it describes as the first “company-independent” charter rate index for container vessels. Published every Tuesday and Thursday by a panel of 10 shipbrokers including Peter Döhle Schifffahrts, Ernst Russ and Stüwe & Co, the new ConTex (Container Ship Time Charter Assessment Index) tracks the daily hire rates of three container ship types considered representative of their respective size categories: CV1100 (1,100 TEU), B170 (1,700 TEU) and a geared 2,500 TEU type. The index will be publicly available via the Hamburg Shipbrokers’ Association website www.vhss.de for a trial period of six months from now. “All market participants are being encouraged to use the index and submit comments and feedback”, said Thomas Rehder, chairman of the brokers’ association. “We will then carry out a review and decide on the final arrangements”. Panel membership might even be broadened to include brokers from London, Copenhagen and elsewhere if the response is positive. The new market barometer, whose development has been encouraged by the Baltic Exchange, may serve as a reference value for forward freight agreements, so far untested in the container ship arena. “There is certainly demand for such products here. However, no-one has come up with a viable concept so far”, said Karina Albers, head of freight derivatives at Ernst Russ. “That may change now as the Contex provides a solid foundation for FFA”.
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