Icelandic carrier Eimskip has divested one of its cornerstone feeder vessels, Lagarfoss, to Portuguese logistics and maritime group Grupo Sousa.
The 875 teu vessel, built in 2014 by Rongcheng Shenfei Shipbuilding, is set to change ownership by September. While financial details of the sale remain confidential, Eimskip confirmed it would recognise a loss of about €3.4m ($4m) on the transaction. The vessel, originally ordered in 2011 for $19m, currently carries an estimated market value of $14.2 m, according to VesselsValue.
The move to sell the vessel comes as Eimskip assesses both fleet optimisation opportunities and potential adjustments to its operations.
“The decision to sell is partly based on favorable market conditions for secondhand tonnage, and the potential adjustments of the sailing system, which has been under review in recent months,” the company said.
Eimskip currently operates 16 vessels, eight owned and eight chartered. The Lagarfoss has been a fixture in Eimskip’s North Atlantic service for over a decade, and the company said that following its exit, changes will be made to the sailing schedule in Iceland.
Eimskip currently operates sixteen vessels, eight owned and eight chartered. Fourteen vessels are used in scheduled liner services on six different sailing routes. Ten are container vessels, four are reefer vessels, and two are ferries operated in Iceland.
Grupo Sousa owns the shipping company GS Lines, which operates six vessels that provide regular service between mainland Portugal, the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau.
