The dramatic fleet clear-out at Pacific International Lines (PIL) has seen Singapore’s top liner slip from 400,000 to 300,000 slots since the start of the year.
The latest sales, as reported by Greece’s Lion Shipbrokers, are among PIL’s last big boxships, offloading sister ships Kota Pemimpin and Kota Petani.
The 2018-built, 11,932 teu ships have been bought by Seaspan for $89m. The ships were built at Yangzijiang in China, a yard Seaspan knows well. The Canadian outfit has bought a number of PIL ships over the past 12 months.
The latest sales mean PIL’s fleet today stands at 302,403 slots, seeing Wan Hai of Taiwan overtake it in the global rankings collated by Alphaliner.
Facing enormous losses, PIL has been selling many assets for the last two years. A unit of Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, is coming onboard to invest in the struggling shipping line.
