"We're catering for shippers moving whole containers. For shippers with small cargo volumes, we'll direct them to our freight forwarding service." said a CIMC employee.

In July, CIMC chartered the 1,700-TEU Mount Nicholson for $85,000 a day for six months.

More recently, CIMC chartered the 2,500-TEU Safeen Prime for $150,000 per day for six months and the 1,700-TEU Ophelia for $100,000 a day for four months.

CIMC's largest shareholder is the Chinese state-owned conglomerate China Merchants Group.

Said Drewry senior manager Simon Heaney: "A number of big carriers are also looking to muscle in on NVOCC territory, so I don't think they can be overly upset. Assuming the market stays on course, carriers will be getting very big increases in contract rates next year anyway, so they needn't worry,"

"I can't see non-carriers sticking around when rates regress to more normal levels. There are no certainties and plenty of risks in the container shipping world," said Mr Heaney.

"Our baseline forecast is that container trade will continue to grow strongly over the next six months and beyond, but a completely unpredictable large-scale outbreak of the virus in any major manufacturing location, for example, could see the market slow to a crawl. Then charterers would be in serious peril as they have locked into some very pricey contracts over longer periods." said Mr Heaney.

CIMC saw a net profit of $654.49 million in the first half of 2021. Sales of dry containers totaled 1.15 million TEU, up 220 per cent year on year, and those of reefers climbed to 94,500 TEU, up 76 per cent year on year.