Containerships will remain at the core of Seaspan Corp’s quest for “quality growth opportunities” even after its leap outside the shipping space.

But in an interview with TradeWinds, Bing Chen, chief ­executive of Seaspan and its recently created parent, Atlas Corp, was keen to underscore the continuity and “disciplined allocation of capital” behind its latest big investments.

Last month, New York-listed Seaspan, with its fleet of 119 owned and managed containerships, suddenly went from being the purest of pure containership plays to a vertical subsidiary within a multi-industry asset-leasing company.

In the $750m transaction, the Hong Kong and Vancouver-headquartered containership owner created a parent company, Atlas, that bought APR Energy, which ­delivers portable power plants.

Chen believes the move stays true to the strategy he has pursued since taking the helm two years ago.

“It may seem overwhelming, but Seaspan has been consistently focusing on the five key elements of operational excellence, customer partnerships, growth, financial strength and stability, and capital allocation since I became CEO,” he said, citing a 77% increase in the share price under his stewardship as vindicating his performance.

Boxships and related assets remain the company’s core interest, he maintained.

“First and foremost, we are looking at growth areas that we are already in,” he said, specifically ­including containerships and portable power within that set.

“We are looking at container shipping — not only ships, but the entire value chain of container logistics and infrastructure.”

Seaspan has had an agreement since April to explore cooperation with tanker owner Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation.

Ship ­finance sources have told TradeWinds that Chen is also in talks with Chinese leasing houses to pick up vessels in other segments from their portfolios.

Ryan Courson, Seaspan and Atlas chief financial officer Photo: Seaspan

Chen confirmed this and outlined further acquisition plans, including non-container shipping and logistics assets.

“I don’t think we exclude any particular shipping segments, but the one we have been looking at the closest is tankers,” he said, ­defining the term broadly to include gas carriers. The most likely candidates are VLCCs and large LNG carriers.

“Our growth is not going to be linear, with acquisitions every month, and will not be for the sake of growth. But we have the money, we have the platform, and where there are customer needs, we can act.”

In November, after a long pause in major transactions, Seaspan made waves with two big deals.

It spent $380m on a package of six containerships from China Merchants Bank Financial Leasing, bringing its fleet to 119 vessels totalling 975,000 teu.

One week later, it broke out of the shipowning space and announced a $750m all-stock deal to acquire APR.

Seaspan then created ­Atlas Corp as its new corporate ­parent and became a vertical entity within ­Atlas. Both companies feature ­David Sokol as chairman, Chen as chief executive and Ryan Courson as chief financial ­officer.

“You should not be surprised if we add other verticals over the next year, but you should not be disappointed if we don’t,” Chen said.

The long-term changes in the company’s strategy and leadership run parallel to a long-term shift at the owning level.

Chen’s recruitment followed a wholesale exodus of previous management starting in 2017, including long-time chief executive Gerry Wang and board member Graham Porter, and the entry of a new investor, Fairfax Financial Holdings.

Fairfax, which began its Seaspan engagement with a $250m loan, gradually increased its stake over the past two years and ­became its largest shareholder in March. Fairfax had also controlled APR since taking it private in 2016.