The Hong Kong- based containership lessor company today announced long-term charters with Israeli liner ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE: ZIM) for ten “ultra-modern” LNG-powered newbuild containerships with 7,000 TEU capacity. Seaspan is expected to enter into shipbuilding agreements for the ships with a “major shipyard” which will bring its newbuild orderbook to a whopping 55 vessels.
All 55 shipbuilding orders have been placed since December 2020. During that time, the company has also purchased four secondhand ships which have all be delivered, increasing its fleet to 131 ships currently.
The ten ships announced today are planned for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2023 and through 2024. Seaspan said the order has an aggregate purchase price of $1.05 billion, which is anticipated to be financed from existing liquidity, cash flow from operations, and additional borrowings.
Seaspan said the long-term charters with ZIM will span 12 years will generate approximately $1.8 billion of gross contracted cash flow.
“We are very pleased to collaborate with ZIM on this forward-thinking project which provides advanced designs, competitive pricing and valuable deliveries,” said Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan. “We see these modern 7,000 TEUs to be the natural successor to the aging global pool of conventional vessels in the 4,000 to 9,000 TEU range, where relatively little fleet renewal has taken place. We are experiencing strong customer interest for this vessel size.”
Seaspan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp. (NYSE:ATCO), is a leading independent owner and operator of containerships that it typically charter on long-term, fixed-rate time charters to the world’s largest container shipping liners.
As of March 31, 2021, Seaspan’s fleet consisted of 127 containerships representing total capacity of approximately 1,073,200 TEU. The addition of the four second-hand ships and 55 ships under construction will increase its fleet to 186 and 1,854,200 TEU on a fully delivered basis.
“We continue to execute on our growth plan in a prudent manner,” said Graham Talbot, CFO of Seaspan. “In line with all of our vessel investments, we have de-risked the $1.05 billion capital expenditure associated with the dual-fuel LNG Containerships by signing long-term charters with a leading global liner representing approximately $1.8 billion of contracted cash flow. We intend to maintain balance sheet and risk management integrity while continuing the growth track that we have established over Seaspan’s 20-year history. We remain diligent on our path toward an investment grade credit rating, and operational scale will play an important role in this pursuit.”
SYDNEY, March 21 (Reuters) – Fiji will strike a deal with Australia to upgrade ports and shipbuilding infrastructure, months after its prime minister said it was likely to partner with China on the...
US Labor unions are calling for a fee to be imposed on vessels constructed in China that dock at US ports in response to what they perceive as unfair shipbuilding...
By Bloomberg News (Bloomberg) — US President Joe Biden pledged to look into a petition from a group of unions asking his administration to review China’s subsidies for shipbuilders, as tensions...
March 13, 2024
Total Views: 2059
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.