Seaspan Orders Two 24,000 TEU Containerships

Seaspan Corporation announced it has placed an order with an unnamed "major" shipyard for two 24,000 TEU containerships, marking the Hong Kong-based shipowner's first ultra large vessels.

The new ships are scheduled for delivery from the first quarter of 2023 and will enter 18-year charters with a global liner customer, Seaspan said,

As of September 30, 2020, Seaspan’s global fleet consisted of 127 vessels and approximately 1,073,000 TEU. Additionally, in December 2020, Seaspan announced an agreement for five newbuild 12,200 TEU vessels which, together with the two vessels announced today, will add 109,000 TEU of new capacity to the fleet over the next two years.

Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan, said, “By combining our key core competencies of creative partnerships, quality growth and disciplined capital allocation, we have developed compelling newbuild opportunities to continue to fuel the company’s growth and enhance our competitive advantages. With newbuild slots scarce in today’s market, we have been consistently meeting our liner customers’ needs while maintaining our return discipline and prudent capital allocation. Upon their completion, these seven best-in-class newbuild vessels are scheduled to consistently add to our fleet beginning late this year and extending through 2023, supporting our strategies to continue generating quality growth and creating value for our shareholders.”

Seaspan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp., said it will finance the acquisition from additional borrowings as well as cash on hand.