The ConTex (Container Ship Time Charter Assessment Index) has been published by the Hamburg and Bremen Shipbrokers’ Association (VHBS) since October 2007. In May 2010 the Index has been expanded and renamed to New ConTex.
The New ConTex is a company-independent Index of time charter rates for container ships. It is based on assessments of the current day charter rates of six selected container ship types, which are representative of their size categories: Type 1.100 TEU and Type 1.700 TEU with a charter period of one year, and the Types 2.500, 2.700, 3.500 and 4.250 TEU all with a charter period of two years.
Since August 2011 the New ConTex includes not only the present, well-known data but also market estimates of the participating panelists on ship types 2.500 TEU (geared), 2.700 TEU (gearless), 3.500 TEU (gearless) and 4.250 TEU (gearless) on the basis of charter periods of 12 months. Starting on 2nd of Oktober 2013 the VHBS started to publish shorter charter periods of only 6 months for the ship classes 1,100 TEU (geared) and 1,700 TEU (geared).
This is an additional service on top of the original composition and assessment basis of the New ConTex Index, which will continue to be published in its present form. The purpose of this wider coverage is to give an even more accurate picture of market development.

Full information, e.g. the history of the rates, is free of charge for the panelists and the members of the association.