Wallenius Wilhelmsen Returns Three More Ships from Lay-up

Norwegian/Swedish shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen said it will reactivate another three vessels, bringing to 12 number of ships it is planning to return to service after placing 15 car carriers in cold lay-up due to difficult market conditions amid the COVID-19 outbreak last spring.

The company said the trio is expected to resume operations in June and July amid growing demand together with rising rates and lack of capacity in the time charter market. The three ro-ro vessels join nine already in the process of being reactivated from earlier this year,.

“As part of our operations, we have the ability to adjust the fleet to our needs and changing market conditions,” said Craig Jasienski, CEO of Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

With some industries showing signs of recovery, there is potential for Wallenius Wilhelmsen's remaining vessels in lay-up to be reactivated later in the year, returning our fleet back to full strength, the company said.

“While it remains challenging to predict the potential market impact from virus intensity in parts of the world, the overall industry supply-demand balance is expected to improve in the mid-term due to overall global fleet reduction, low order book and a rebound in volumes during 2021,” Jasienski added.