Containership tonnage supplier SinOceanic Shipping is planning to sell part of its fleet in order to return equity to its cash-strapped Chinese parent, HNA Group.

TradeWinds understands that since October, Oslo-based SinOceanic has sold three ships of 9,400 teu to 13,100 teu, with charters to Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) attached.

"We are reducing the fleet," SinOceanic chairman and chief executive Jan Hakon Pettersen confirmed.