Seaspan, the world's largest independent containership owner, has placed another order for up to 12 new Panamax containerships. Including the latest 8 confirmed orders, Seaspan has ordered 25 new vessels in just over two months since last December, and Seaspan's frenzied expansion path seems far from over. Meanwhile, another 15 container vessels built by Yangtze River Shipping are expected to join Seaspan's fleet in the future.
8+4 container vessels ordered, built by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding
On March 4, Seaspan Corporation announced that it had reached an agreement with a major shipping company to order eight high-specification container vessels equipped with desulfurization units, including four 12,000 TEU and four 15,000 TEU container vessels, in addition to an alternative order for four 15,000 TEU container vessels. The new vessels, which feature industry-leading energy efficiency and emission reduction technologies, are expected to be delivered between the second half of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023 and will be delivered under a long-term charter with a major liner customer.
Seaspan did not disclose specific information about the order, but it is speculated that the receiving shipyard should be Yangtze River Shipping Group, as the two sides have been cooperating since 1994 and have built dozens of container vessels together. Just on March 5, Yangtze River Shipping Group announced that the company has received four 15,000 TEU and four 11,800 TEU container ship orders, but did not announce the shipowner information. Sources said that the container vessels will be leased to Japan Ocean Netlink Shipping (ONE) for a charter period of 10 to 12 years.
It is understood that Seaspan is expected to use additional borrowings and cash on hand to finance the latest order for eight new vessels.
We will continue to leverage our industry-leading scalable and fully integrated platform to accelerate high-quality growth while strengthening our solid balance sheet and creative customer partnerships," said Bing Chen, president and CEO of Seaspan. It is through our deep relationships with shipyard and liner company customers and the world-class expertise in shipbuilding of our experienced team that enables us to develop win-win solutions for all stakeholders. We have recently ordered 25 new vessels and acquired two 15,000 TEU container vessels with desulphurization units built in 2019, further consolidating our core 10,000-15,000 TEU vessel layout and increasing capacity in this class by 47%, thus offering unparalleled flexibility, versatility and best-in-class service capabilities. We will continue to focus on delivering differentiated value-added services, increasing the resilience of our business model and continuing our industry-leading operational excellence to continue to create sustainable value for our shareholders."
As of September 30, 2020, Seaspan's global fleet consists of 127 vessels with a total capacity of approximately 1,073,000 TEU and contracted revenues of $4.1 billion. the average age of Seaspan's fleet is approximately seven years, with an average remaining charter term of approximately four years.
Seaspan returned to the newbuilding market at the end of last year and ordered a total of 25 new vessels
Seaspan has returned to the newbuilding market since the end of last year with a large number of vessels on order.
On December 7 last year, Seaspan announced that it had ordered five 12,200 TEU container vessels and entered into a long-term charter agreement with a leading global shipping company. Although Seaspan did not disclose at the time which shipyard it would order the vessels from, according to Clarkson, the five new vessels were built by Yangzi Xinfu, a subsidiary of Yangzijiang Shipping Group, and will be chartered to Mediterranean Shipping.
On February 8, Seaspan announced another agreement with a major shipbuilder to build two 24,000 TEU containerships, the first time Seaspan has ordered ultra-large containerships. The new vessels are expected to be delivered starting in the first half of 2023 and are under an 18-year long-term charter with a leading global consolidator.
Seaspan did not announce the shipyard and charterer information of the two 24,000 TEU container vessels. However, according to foreign media sources, Seaspan's two vessels will also be built by Yangtze River Shipping Group and have signed an 18-year charter contract with Mediterranean Shipping, the world's second largest container shipping company.
On February 12, Seaspan announced an order for 10 LNG-powered 15,000 TEU containerships, Seaspan's first investment in LNG-powered containerships, with deliveries to begin in the first half of 2023. Israeli shipping company Eystar Shipping has confirmed that it will lease the new vessels on a long-term basis for 12 years for deployment on the Asia-US-East route, with construction work to be undertaken by South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries.
Meanwhile, Seaspan also announced on March 2 the acquisition of two high-quality 15,000 TEU containerships equipped with desulfurization units, built in 2019 and featuring industry-leading energy efficiency and emission reduction technologies, on long-term charters with a global liner customer. The new vessels are expected to be delivered to Seaspan by the end of the second quarter of 2021.
Although Seaspan has not announced specific information about the vessels, sources say the 2 vessels are from Singaporean owner Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS). According to Alphaliner, there are only four vessels matching Seaspan's description, all owned by EPS, built by South Korea's Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and on long-term charter to France's Duffy Steamship.
Shipping broker MSI estimates the value of each vessel at $120 million, while VesselsValue's data puts the value of each vessel between $142 million and $144 million, compared with the $99 million EPS originally paid for the 15,000 TEU containerships. Seaspan is expected to use additional borrowings and cash on hand to finance the acquisition.
Together with the two 15,000 TEU used container vessels, the addition of a total of 27 vessels to Seaspan's fleet will increase its capacity by 397,000 TEU, including 367,000 TEU newbuildings and 30,000 TEU used vessels. With these transactions, Seaspan will add 25 new vessels to its core 10,000-15,000 TEU fleet, increasing capacity by 47% and entering the 24,000 TEU ultra-large container vessel market for the first time.
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