Seaspan box ship buying binge continues
Written by Nick Blenkey
Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan.
Containership leasing giant Seaspan Corporation is ending March as it began it: announcing another multi-ship newbuilding contract.
The company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp.(NYSE: ATCO), said today that it has entered into an agreement with a major shipyard for six 15,500 TEU modern newbuild containerships with anticipated deliveries beginning in the second half of 2023 and extending through to mid-year 2024. The ships will be scrubber-fitted and include what are described as “industry-leading emissions reduction technologies.”
The vessels are anticipated to be financed from additional borrowings as well as cash on hand and, on completion, will enter long-term charters with leading global liner customers.
Since December 2020, and including these six latest vessels, Seaspan has announced the addition of a total of 580,000 TEU represented by 39 vessels, including 37 newbuilds and the acquisition of two vessels in the secondary markets.
On delivery, the additional ships will increasing the company’s total capacity to 1,653,200 TEU, up from 1,073,200 TEU at the end of last year.
The new vessels will continue to expand upon Seaspan’s core strategic size category of approximately 10,000 to 15,000 TEU.
“Our creative customer partnerships continue to drive best-in-class solutions for our customers and quality growth for our shareholders,” commented Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan. “The depth of expertise and industry-leading execution of our Atlas and Seaspan teams combine to offer our customers unmatched capabilities by providing consistently differentiated services, operational excellence and high-value win-win solutions.
“I am proud of Seaspan’s strong commitment to leading the industry by leveraging our fully integrated platform, broad scale, flexibility and determination to be the best-in-class business solution provider to our liner customers.”
The vessels are anticipated to be financed from additional borrowings as well as cash on hand.
As of December 31, 2020, Seaspan’s global fleet consisted of 127 vessels and approximately 1,073,200 TEU. Beginning in December 2020, and along with the six vessels announced today, Seaspan has announced the addition of a total of 580,000 TEU represented by 39 vessels, including 37 newbuild vessels, and the acquisition of two vessels in the secondary markets, increasing total capacity to 1,653,200 TEU, on fully delivered basis.
These vessels will continue to expand upon Seaspan’s core strategic size category of approximately 10,000 to 15,000 TEU.
