MPC Container Ships ASA

OSE:MPCC

Earnings Call Transcript 2020-Q4

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to today's Q4 2020 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] I must advise you that this call is being recorded today, Thursday, the 25th of February 2021.I would now like the call -- hand the call over to your first host today, Constantin Baack. Please go ahead, sir.

[Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, and good morning, everyone. This is Constantin Baack, I'm CEO of MPC Container Ships, and I would like to welcome you to our Q4 2020 earnings call. Thank you for joining us to discuss the fourth quarter earnings of MPC Container Ships. This morning we have issued a stock market announcement covering our fourth quarter results for the period ending December 31, 2020. The release as well as the accompanying presentation for this conference call are available on the Investor and Media section of our website. Please be advised that the material provided and our discussion today contain certain forward-looking statements and indicative figures. Actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied by forward-looking statements due to the risks and uncertainties associated with our business. Now before I guide you through the presentation, let me start with a few opening remarks. The year 2020 has been historically volatile. The V-shaped recovery witnessed during the latter half of the year has, however, been particularly strong for the container shipping industry. Tonnage providers, especially those who had and have vessels open for rechartering are benefiting greatly from the sharp upturn in the charter rates recently albeit, with a certain time lag, as our customers have exhausted their pre-recovery charter parties to their fullest extent. As such, during Q4, MPC Container Ships was still in the process of closing out less profitable charter parties entered into during the initial phase of the COVID pandemic. By now, the strong market momentum observed since last fall has pushed charter rates to a 10-year high across vessel sizes, all the while extending achievable charter periods. In the midst of these ideal market dynamics, we have rechartered out the majority of our fleet, and we'll see more vessels coming open during the next few months. As such, we are very well positioned for the year 2020, and I'll elaborate on that in a bit more detail. On that note, I would like to start with today's presentation, commencing with a brief recap of Q4 2020 and year-to-date 2022 -- 2021 highlights, followed by an update on some relevant market parameters and then concluding with some company-specific outlook.Turning to Slide 2. As mentioned, our financial Q4 performance is still showing signs of the pre-summer market shocks due to the COVID pandemic. In particular, as I mentioned before, the phasing out of less profitable and flexible charters that we have concluded during the first half of the year. At USD 39.3 million net revenues in Q4 were above Q3 levels, similarly, the USD 4.2 million of Q4 EBITDA as well as average TCE and fleet utilization underpins the robust upwards momentum observed during the last few months. Despite COVID-19-related costs and operational challenges, which we will elaborate on in a bit more detail, we have managed to cut down on OpEx compared to 2019 levels without compromising on safety, reliability and quality of our operations. As per end of Q4, the company had a cash balance of $39.3 million. Moreover, key balance sheet figures remain solid with an equity ratio of 57%, and moderate financial leverage of 41%. Further details on our Q4 and full year 2020 financials are made available in the appendix of this presentation as well as on -- in the Q4 report released on the company's website. Now please turn to Slide 5, where we provide an update on some key developments and activities for Q4 2020. Let me start with the market developments. On a macroeconomic level, the year 2020 witnessed a global recession, but a solid recovery is expected for 2021. The container market saw a roller coaster year with heavy disruption during the first half of the year, followed by a strong growth and with volumes above pre-pandemic levels from July onwards. Looking at the charter market, we have seen a consistent recovery during the second half of 2020, initially for the larger tonnage, but subsequently for the smaller tonnage. I will elaborate in a bit more detail on the most recent developments in the upcoming markets in the outlook section that will follow this section. Operationally, the year 2020 has been extremely busy and challenging. It has been very intense in terms of chartering. We have fixed more than 165 charters in 2020, reflecting basically 1 charter every second day, which is -- which has been extremely demanding and challenging at the same time.Despite COVID-related challenges, which resulted in extra cost and put a lot of strain on our staff crews, et cetera, we have been able to reduce our OpEx. As emphasized on previous occasions, one key focus has been and will continue to be to ensure safe and reliable operation whilst improving KPIs in a market environment still effected by the pandemic. Accounting for the many twists and turns thrown at us during 2020, I'm very satisfied with our operational performance, owed in large part to the dedication of our onshore teams, the crews serving onboard our vessels and other important stakeholders.Furthermore, we have conducted a few portfolio measures and have sold some smaller and older vessels reallocating the proceeds to acquire amongst others a 3,500 TEU container vessel for $10 million. We immediately secured significant cash flow and EBITDA for this vessel, and vessel's value are certainly up for these kind of vessels most recently but I'll get to that in a bit more detail as we go through. The challenging charter market, as I mentioned before, of course, left a footprint on the activities and financial results of MPCC in the financial year 2020. And that is, in particular, on charter rate and fleet utilization. So looking at the development, quarter-by-quarter, we can see that utilization began to recover in Q3 basically already started in Q3 as charters kept the vessels as long as possible, whilst the TCE for our fleets dipped in Q3, and just started to recover in Q4 2020 on the back of renewed fixtures at improved rates. However, when it comes to the TCE for our fleet, the recovery will only be notably visible as of Q1 2021 as our customers, as I mentioned before, exhausted the pre-recovery charter parties to the full extent.I will now provide an update on key market dynamics. So please turn to Slide 7 of this presentation. Initially, I would like to focus on some key developments and explain then some short-term dynamics before looking at the midterm market fundamentals. 2020 has been a rollercoaster year for the container market. We have seen a severe global recession followed by a very strong recovery of container volumes at a pace that is also unprecedented. But let's have a look at where we stand today. On Slide 7, we have shown some key market indicators over time, all of which are highly positive in some and in some represent the strongest market momentum but also fundamentals in more than a decade. Whilst the first 4 lines are rather indicators of the current market momentum, such as freight rates, charter rates, idle vessels and average charter periods, the latter 3 show solid market fundamentals going forward. And as you can see at the right, in the common section, we are looking at 10, 5 -- 10- or 5-year highs or lows and all of which points to a very positive direction.Now let me continue on Slide 8, where we look at the most recent developments in terms of charter rates and idle statistics. The chart at the bottom left shows the development of the idle fleet, and the chart on the top right shows the charter rate development for vessel sizes up to 5,000 TEU. As you can see, the idle graph shows the rapid and significant up and down during 2020. Idle fleet currently stands at 1%, which is a very -- historically seen also a very low number. Charter rates have improved constantly since late summer, and you can see that on the top right how that graph is shaped. On the top left, you can also see the Clarksons Index since the early '90s, which we illustrated in order to show the significant rise in rates most recently, but obviously, also to put that into context and to put current charter rates, in particular, into historic context. Whilst this is a highly positive development for charter tonnage in general and for our fleet in particular, other elements must be taken into account as well, especially when assessing the sustainability of the current charter market situation. In that respect, please go to the next slide, where I would like to take a closer look at latest time charter momentum, average fixing periods, redelivery spread and also vessel availability going forward. On the top left, we have illustrated the time charter rate momentum in form of Candlestick chart, illustrating how charter market rates have developed from the first to the last day of each month. The strong rate development over the past few months becomes clearly visible. At the same time, as illustrated on the top right, average charter periods have also increased notably, whilst redelivery spreads have decreased. During the last earnings call presentation in November, I explained that we were seeing periods of 6 to 12 months for vessels up to 1,700 TEU in periods between 1 and 2 years for vessels above 1,700 TEU up to 5,000 TEU. This has changed in the meantime. Presently, we are seeing periods of rather 12 to 18 months being a standard period for vessels up to 1,700 and 2 to 3 years for vessels above that size. Combined with continuously strengthening rates, this obviously is very positive for tonnage providers that have vessels coming open now. In that context, please also have a look at the bottom left chart, where we have illustrated the expected availability of tonnage between 1 and 5,000 TEU for the remainder of 2021. We have done so based on some Clarksons data and the existing fixtures that we have observed in the market and have rolled that forward based on redelivery spreads as well as charter periods. And as you can see, the bear fact that the various vessels are now being chartered out for at least 12 months, also in the very small segment means that these vessels are unavailable to the charter market in the short term. That, in turn, will mean that we will see less or lower vessel availability going forward, a much tighter supply side, especially in combination with a very limited delivery schedule in terms of new deliveries into the market from the shipyards, especially in the smaller sizes. So on that basis, we believe that the charter market will actually see a sustainable trend and a constant, if not increasing charter market development in the year ahead on the basis of this redelivery expectation. Having said that, everyone is presently talking about the shortages of boxes that is actually easing as we speak. However, the shortage of tonnage, in my view, will dictate 2021 as well if you look at the graph at the bottom left.On that note, please refer to the next slide. Slide #10, where we have looked at the order book as well as the demand supply development going forward, plus the development in the S&P market. Very importantly to note is the order book is at a historical low. Most recently, we have seen a number of new orders, in particular, on the larger sizes. But overall, the order book is at a very low level, which is a positive. If you look back at 2007, '08, last time, we have seen a market of the same strength in terms of charter rates and periods, there the order book to fleet ratio was 60%. So we are now down to 10%, which in historical terms, is very low. And the uncertainty about propulsion will contribute to that going forward. On the top right, you see the demand and supply rebalancing. For this year, demand growth is expected somewhere between -- for the overall market, somewhere between 5% and 6%, whilst the supply growth is expected to be significantly lower than that. Of course, demand disruption cannot be ruled out going forward. However, we believe there's a solid buffer when you look at the supply demand development going forward. And as we speak, the continued strength in the container market, even throughout the period of Chinese New Year speaks for itself. If you then look at the S&P activity on the top left -- on the bottom left, sorry, we can see kind of that the intensity and the number of S&P transaction has increased recently in line with kind of the improving charter environment. If you look at these charts or at the line basically with the reference values for S&P transactions, I can clearly say that they are lagging behind. And asset prices follow the dynamic development of charter rates, and we expect further transactions at higher prices will surface in the course of the next couple of weeks and months on the back of the existing charter rate development.Then please, the following section, please refer to the next slide, where we look at, in particular, company-specific elements. And on the top left, we have benchmarked the MPC charter performance versus adjusted Alphaliner as the common reference for idle fleet, and we are basically applying the same definition to the like-for-like comparison. In a challenging and highly volatile market, you can see how it went up and down in the course of the last 12 or 18 months. But we can say that we have performed well compared with this benchmark. On the top right, we divided the quarterly charter fixtures of MPCC in 3 categories, always compared to the last done, which is obviously also a testament to the significant up and down in the market. And you can see that during Q4 and quarter-to-date 2021, we have seen a significant strengthening of both the -- obviously, the Clarksons Index, which is the red line, but also of the columns, which represent a continuous improvement in charter fixtures. At the same time, if you look at the bottom right, we have depicted that in a bit more detail, also looking at redelivery spread and charter duration as well as average rates. If you look at the year-to-date figure with 15 fixtures, it is worth highlighting that 13 out of these 15 pictures are actually for vessels below 1,700 TEU. So rather the smaller part of our fleet, and even those vessels have been fixed at on average, 12 months with a very solid charter rate.On that note, please refer to the next slide. Please turn to Page 13, where we have further illustrated both the chartered developments in quarter-to-date Q1 2021 and going forward for the MPCC fleet, which is the lower part of the slide as well as the secure days and revenues, which is the upper part of the slide. Let me start with the upper part of the slide where we have shown the quarterly fixed days for the year of 2021, illustrating, in total, roughly 68 days that we have fixed already for 2021. Obviously, geared more towards the first quarter, but we expect that we will have covered 90% of the days plus at the end of the second quarter of this year, assuming that the market continues in the current strong development. Looking at the secured revenues on the consolidated vessel and that -- vessels and that you can see in the comments on the top right, we are looking at secured revenues for 2021 of around 157 million, represented by 68% of the available days as I've mentioned, and that translates into an average TCE of around $11,200 per day. Of course, that is a bit kind of balanced over the quarters, with slightly lower TCEs during Q1, Q2, increasing towards the end of the year when we'll have digested all the remaining, let's say, legacy charters that are still in place.In addition, we have also provided some additional figures on the Bluewater JV, which is not consolidated, but represents with 8 vessels, obviously, also an important part of our fleet for 2021. And on that one, we have secured roughly USD 31 million and just a shade below 80% of the available days, generating also very strong cash flow from that very silo. In addition, and obviously, more details on the employment of the individual vessels can be found in the appendix of this presentation.Please see Page 21 to -- or 20 to 22. The lower part of the slide shows the upcoming charter renewals based on our present assessment. As mentioned, the fixtures year-to-date 2021 were predominantly and that you can see from the graph -- predominantly on smaller vessels up to 1,700 TEU. And subject to the period actually agreed upon during the upcoming fixtures, plus on the basis of our assessment when it comes to redeliveries, we expect another roughly 40 fixtures for the remainder of this year. Overall, we believe that kind of this picture is a picture that is very positive. That puts us in a position to look forward with fairly good charter backlog. As I mentioned before, by the end of Q2, we expect to have secured the vast majority of revenues for this year and also will have a significantly higher cover for 2022, which you can also see on this slide as a status quo. So on the back of that, we are pretty positive going into 2021. And we definitely see a very strong charter market in a sustainable strong charter market at the moment. Now looking at kind of the earnings potential that results from the previous chart with -- on the back of existing charter backlog and current market environment, this chart illustrates -- Slide 14 illustrates the cash breakeven for 2020, adjusted for certain one-off effects, in particular, in relation to scrubber that we have still incurred as the last kind of item in -- of our scrubber program that was conducted 2019. Overall, if you look at the locked in earnings, the current environment, so current spot rates, for example, and that's on the -- you can see that in the comments on the right-hand side, spot rates for our vessels on the basket of our vessels according to Clarksons is somewhere between USD 16,500 and USD 17,000 at the moment. That shows you significant upside potential also versus the rates that we have secured so far, looking at the upcoming fixtures. And at the same time, it also reflects a significant earnings capacity going into 2021. And we feel very positively about that.Now let's turn to the -- to Slide 16 or 15, sorry, before we -- in order to sum up the presentation and open the floor for questions. As mentioned during my introductory remarks, 2020 has been a very intense year. We have been pretty much caught by the significant downturn and the flexible charter rates that -- and charter periods that we were exposed to during the summer of 2020 or pre-summer of 2020. But we have been able to now lock in rates. And given our kind of significant number of charter renewals that we have conducted since Q4 and will have in front of us for the next couple of months, we are basically extremely positive and excited about 2021. And we believe that market fundamentals are extremely strong. Even if freight markets might come down in the course of 2021, we see that due to the effect that I've explained earlier, in particular, the availability of tonnage, which will be very thin, is thin at the moment, will continue to be thin on the back of longer periods and hence, vessels not being available to the market is a very positive for the charter market, in particular, also for the smaller sizes. And at the same time, fundamentals look positive. There's hardly any significant deliveries in our segment over the next 2 years. If you were to order ship today, it will not come until 2023. So we are very positive about the development going forward. As such, we feel very well positioned for an exciting journey in 2021 in the container charter market. And on that note, I would like to hand over to you, operator, and thanks for your attendance.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] First question on the audio line comes from the line of Frode Mørkedal.

[Frode Morkedal, Managing Director]

Yes. About the guidance you provided, I think you said EBITDA of $90 million to $120 million for 2021, which is very strong, of course. But I'm curious about what's the assumption here in terms of the upper end of the guidance, if you can provide some -- perhaps what's your assumption there?

[Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer]

Sure. Hi Frode, first of all. Well, obviously, with a visibility on earnings already in February, which we haven't had over the last couple of years given the simply different market condition, we wanted to communicate to the market our forecast on the back of the existing charter backlog and assumptions. Of course, you can run the numbers, and I think we have provided a lot of information in the presentation in terms of fixed rates, open days and what will be the spot rates for our vessel in today's market so I think you can -- and cash breakeven, obviously, and our cost structure. So you can basically run different scenarios on that basis. Of course, we entered with a guidance that had basically arranged, main reason for that being is that there is still market uncertainty out there, right? I mean, obviously, the market is strong. We expect it to remain strong. And we, in all likelihood, will have a much clearer picture on this as I mentioned before, once we approach the latter part of Q2 2021. Because by that time, we expect to have fixed roughly 90%, if not more, of the days for 2021. So this is a range on the basis of, let's say, the assumption that rates might be volatile. But of course, if rates stay where they are, we are definitely at the higher end of that range.

[Frode Morkedal, Managing Director]

Yes, that makes sense. If I look at the 2 year quotes on time charter rates and the backlog you already have, I'm basically getting a midpoint of that range. So do you feel like 2-year time charter rates are a good proxy, so to speak, on where you're going to recharter out your results, right? I assume you want to charter out as long as possible.

[Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. And obviously, if you can lock in a significant EBITDA. And just to give you an example, I mean, we have fixed the 2003 builds or we are actually in the midst of fixing a 2003 built 2,800 TEU vessel for 2 years above $20,000, right? And that is obviously a significant EBITDA contribution. So the -- as long as you can lock that in with a good counterparty, obviously, then this is a very attractive proposition. And in my view, it should and it will drive asset prices further up. And on the back of that, I think the 2 year periods for the vessels above 2,000 TEU are a good reference. As I mentioned earlier, for vessels, let's say, up to 1,700 TEU periods are more 12 to 18 months as a reference, but vessels above that, you can probably use the 2-year rates as a good reference.

[Frode Morkedal, Managing Director]

Understood. In general, how -- I mean, you provided some figures that 17 ships are up for renewals in Q2. How early are you able to recharter these vessels? So when do you start negotiating? And are you going to -- already there? Or...

[Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer]

Well, the answer -- well, the answer, it depends. I mean, sometimes, in this market, 1 is approached by liners for an early extension. In general, there is usually a 30-day redelivery notice, right? So upon receipt of that redelivery notice, you can talk to the market because, obviously, people want to know the position and when it is available and that you only know 30 days in advance, unless it's the existing charter, obviously. So that is something that is basically the common process. Having said that, some charterers want to secure the tonnage and want to talk early with owners to make sure the vessel is not distributed broadly in the market. And that's obviously the dynamics here. I think the dynamics have changed quite a bit. In that respect because over summer, I mean, we had 5 to 10 vessels for 1 charter requirement, and now we probably have 5 to 6 potential charterers with requirements for 1 vessel. So that means you would probably not want to renew too early, but you will basically follow that process as a general rule of thumb. Obviously, there are exceptions to it, but that's the general process.

[Frode Morkedal, Managing Director]

Yes. You mentioned you feel asset values are likely to increase here. And I'm sure you're not getting inquiries on chartering out ships, but also probably sell ships or your own ships to somebody else, right? Are people quoting you down to try to buy your ships?

[Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer]

Yes. I mean there are some offers that are probably not too serious. But there -- I mean, if you look at the parties who have been very active buyers in the second-hand market. It's operators. It's a lot of liner companies. It's not a secret, and it's out there in the media that MSC has been actually the biggest buyer of also smaller feeder containerships and others as well. Also Asian operators, Wan Hai has set, I think, around $350 million in investment capacity for second-hand tonnage approved by the Board. So everyone is seeing a tightening in the vessel availability, and that's what I referred to earlier. So yes, you should, as a shipowner, always consider buying and selling ships in a market environment. The question is obviously, how is the -- today is a situation where we can also lock in long-term cash flows. And that's pretty much a difference compared to the last 2 years. So the vessel value is not just future cash flows in Excel, its future cash flows on paper. And I think that makes a lot of difference, especially if you look at what I expect is going to happen over the next couple of weeks and months, even stronger second-hand values.

[Frode Morkedal, Managing Director]

Yes. And on that note, I mean, what's your priority theory with this $100 million EBITDA coming in there in terms of like capital return, investments going forward?

[Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer]

Of course, returning capital to investors is a key priority of any company at some stage. I think for the time being, our key priority is to delever the company. We have kind of seen a very volatile market during the course of last year. We are fortunate now in this market environment to be able to lock in significant cash flows. Our key priority would be to financially delever the structure, given the significant operating leverage and the charter backlog, we believe that is the right thing to do. Basically, transferring value from credit to equity investors because we believe the credit investors are very well secured. And some of that value should be transferred to equity investors. Therefore, I clearly see that this is the key priority, of course, in a dynamic market like this, you need to make sure that you are flexible in the way you allocate your capital. And however, this is kind of the key priority. But of course, distributing capital to investors along the way is also a very high priority. But first and foremost, it's about delevering the company.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions]

[Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer]

Operator, there are actually a few questions on the web, which I'm happy to read out and answer. The first question is from [ Ote Hoger ]. He's asking about the fixed days and average TCE. I think we provided that on one of the slides. So that question might have been a bit earlier out there. So if there's a follow-up question on that, please kindly specify that. But otherwise, I think that is clearly illustrated on the chart, where we mentioned 68% of the vessels -- or consolidated vessels ownership days are already fixed for 2021, and the respective 2022 figure is also illustrated.And there's another question by [ Mo Sanga ]. Talking about the EBITDA guiding for 2021 and whether that will provide headroom for dividend?As I've just mentioned to Frode, of course, a dividend is a very important feature. But first and foremost, as I said, we want to delever the company to -- as a priority in terms of capital allocation. But obviously, a dividend is part of our strategy in order to return capital to investors.Then there's a question by [ Chuck Myers ]. Asking about -- sorry, I have to read that out. Total interest expense for 2021, including cash pay and anything you pick but excluding amortization. That's the first part of the question. So the finance cash flow for next year, cash outflow is somewhere around $23 million. And the pick element is obviously an option, which we still have under the bond. So whether or not we will make use of that, we will decide as we go along. That's number one. Number two is -- second part of the question is, can you also remind us what CapEx will be approximately this year? And if this year is above or below what an average year of CapEx should be? The answer there is that we have 16 dockings this year, which is comparably high number on average. So we are looking -- this year, we're looking at somewhere around 32 million to 33 million in CapEx as a result of this and as a result of also quite a number of ballast water treatment systems that we will install onboard of our ships during the course of 2021.Then there's another question by [ Ralph Becker ]. He's asking how do you see the impact of EEXI on the fleet of MPCC? And what mitigating measures do you expect to be done? We obviously follow the regulation very closely in EEXI as well as CII coming into effect in all likelihood 2023, that's at least the current time line and our expectation. Of course, there are still further details to be determined in the course of the upcoming IMO meeting in June. This will be important to really make a final assessment. What we have done and are continuously doing is a desktop assessment of our fleets. We are extremely comfortable that we will be in compliance with the EEXI. And there are obviously various measures to be able to address that. One could be, for example, to run slower. And it's important to also look at the specific trading profile of a vessel when looking at slower steaming. I mean obviously, speeds of vessels across the globe has increased recently as a result of the tightening of tonnage. However, many of our ships don't run at high speeds. So we are very comfortable with meeting the EEXI targets in 2023.Another question is in here from Eirik Haavaldsen. Eirik it's good to receive a question from you. He is asking about the NAV for the fleet on the basis of Clarksons. And what the scrap value is of the fleet? The scrap value, obviously, on the basis of, let's say, a $350 per lightweight ton as a reference, is around USD 190 million. And the Clarksons valuation is obviously moving -- ticking up by the day. The latest I saw was somewhere in the vicinity of $600 million, probably. But again, I think this is not a reflection of the very dynamic second-hand market. So just as an example, the 3,500 TEU vessel that we bought for $10 million took over in January, according to vessels value as another reference, is now worth $15 million. So -- and that is ticking up by the day at the very moment. Then there's a question by [ Olive Kogastki ]. And he is asking by how many million U.S. dollars do you expect to delever in 2021? Will debt costs, at least in 2022, allow a dividend to your planned one? I think on dividends, I already provided color on delevering. That's obviously subject to logging in the remaining cash flows. I think we will be much better positioned to give a clearer guidance to that once we have locked in the charters towards the end of Q2. But we definitely intend to delever with a large portion of our liquidity that we generate in 2021. Then there's another question by [ Kai Gazek ]. Talking about dry docking. What are the average time in the dock? Obviously, one thing is the docking times, the other is sometimes the positioning voyage into the dock. We have a few vessels, for example, trading in the carats. But on average, you can run your numbers with around 24 days. That's probably a good but also conservative estimate. And then there's one further question here from [ Marcus Lahneskoc ]. What was your expected amortization schedule and CapEx commitment for 2021? Sorry could not hear your answer. Okay. I hope it is now possible to hear that answer. So the amortization -- and it wasn't actually the amortization, it was the interest expense that he asked. The interest expense for next year is expected to be somewhere between $21 million and $24 million, depending also a bit on -- basically on some of the amortization, but this is interest plus a minor amortization because we -- most of our financings are bullet. Only 1 bank financing has a small amortization element. And on the CapEx side, we have somewhere between $31 million and $34 million for 2021. I hope that was understandable now. Yes. And that is at least the end of the list -- oh no, sorry, there's 1 more just coming in. There's a question by [ Stina Enlitz ]. So asking about the contract length going up. And then the question about whether that's the customer wanting predictability forward in a tight market? Or is it MPC using the tight market to push length? Which side pushes the lengths? The charterers do not necessarily want to commit for long periods. Usually, charterers have a visibility of -- on their backlog in terms of boxes of somewhere, especially the feeder operators of somewhere around 6 months. We have obviously seen that as a result of the heated market and also on the box side and on the freight right, freight side that -- and that has been publicly announced by Maersk and Hapag and others as well that they have been able to fetch longer contracts also on the freight side, so on the box side. And hence, there's certainly also willingness to hedge that. But -- and that's the point I mentioned earlier, it's also about vessel availability, right? And the tide has turned somewhat as a result of, as I said, in summer, for example, there were, let's say, 5 to 10 vessels for 1 charter requirement. So the charter could dictate the period, in particular, a lot of flexible periods, which have resulted also in the bad result that we have seen financially in 2020 being kind of redelivered when you don't want to at the worst time in the market. And that has changed now. Now you have 1 vessel and you have 5 people interested. So it's actually also the owners that can really decide to go for longer periods. And as I said, for smaller vessels, up to 1,700 TEU, I would say, the standard charter period at the moment is 12 to 18 months that has changed dramatically. And for vessels above that size, the standard period is 2 years and -- or above. And that gives you an idea of where did the market balance in terms of what's the standard period for certain vessel types. And that is now the new market standard, and that is more a result of this very tight tonnage. There's another question by [ Thomas Jacobson ]. Asking about whether we would consider filing for a U.S. IPO?We have obviously looked at all the options to facilitate the best platform for our shareholders and for also growing the company. U.S. IPO is something that I would not rule out. I think it's not on the top of the agenda today. But going forward, this is certainly something we would consider if it adds value in the overall context. But for the time being, this is nothing that will happen tomorrow. Another question here by [ Ralph Becker ]. When do you plan to start renewing the fleet? Do you plan to place newbuilding orders? Obviously, the market dynamics around the right propulsion technology, et cetera, it's obviously -- it's very dynamic at the moment. We have seen some liners opting for LNG, dual fuel options, others like Maersk, they have just announced a methanol or maybe not solution, maybe it's more a test or trial run. We believe that certain technology or the technology is not yet, let's say, at a state where we would on our own go out to older vessels. And I actually think it's pretty healthy. On the flip side, I think looking at the very tight supply side, actually new orders are needed. So looking where we are, we're not kind of rushing into anything that is not solidly kind of assessed and established. And therefore, we feel comfortable with the age bracket that we have, we believe there obviously is technology risk inherent in certain vessels. The edge bracket we involved in 10 to 15-year-old container ships. We believe this is a very good age record to be in. So yes, we are screening the market, but no, we have -- we do not intend to place a newbuild order tomorrow. There's another question by [ Alexander Withing ]. Can you please tell me why I didn't buy more shares earlier? Very good. It's a joke. Okay. You can buy them now, [ Alexander ].Then there's [ Einstein Nagel ]. Asking future looks bright. What can possibly go wrong? If you look ahead, 6 to 12 months, of course, I mean the 2 headwinds, I would say is obviously, the general theme of energy transition and the implication that might have on technology, on the sector, et cetera. That's across the shipping sector. I personally think there's not the answer available in the next 6 to 12 months. But this is, I would say, a general risk to all industry participants. Very difficult to quantify, but it certainly is out there. But that's why I feel comfortable with our edge bracket, as I mentioned before. Secondly, and that is something we have painfully and unfortunately, experienced over the last 2 years. A potential demand disruption, as we have seen, obviously, with trade war 2019 and the COVID meltdown of volumes or redeliveries that we received from our charterers in 2020. So the demand side is very kind of challenging to foresee. However, all the fundamentals look very good. Even if there's only a very small demand growth, we don't see that the market will be in this balance. We actually see that it's rebalancing as a result of the charter periods and also as a result of the current situation when it comes to the order book. There is hardly any orders. And we think, in sum, the supply side is very interesting. And on the demand side, there are various initiatives, be it the free trade zone, the biggest free trade zone on this globe in Asia Pacific, which will accelerate regional trades and volumes benefiting regional operators like owners like ourselves. And at the same time, you see the -- also the stimulus package in the U.S., which will in my book also accelerate the situation. But this is kind of, let's say, more general headwinds that are possible. But as I said, I'm very positive looking into 2021. At least here, on the web, I don't see any further questions. Moderator, back to you to see whether there's any question through the line.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] We have no further questions, sir, please continue.

[Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer]

All right. If there are no further questions, I would like to thank you, operator, for hosting us. And obviously, everyone for their participation and for all the questions. And of course, if there are further questions, feel free to reach out. You can reach us through the Investor Relations link on our website. Yes, we're looking forward, and I wish everyone a safe and healthy rest of the week. And yes, looking forward to an exciting 2021. Many thanks.

[Operator]

Thank you. That does conclude today's conference. You may now all disconnect.