Costamare revealed on Tuesday that it has trimmed its newbuilding programme by two vessels, leaving it with six under construction.
According to the report it annually submits to stock exchange authorities, the company served on 24 March a notice of termination on shipbuilding contracts for a pair of 12,690-teu ships.
These are two of the eight vessels that Costamare inked at an unidentified Chinese shipyard in December, in what were the company’s first newbuildings in three years.
Costamare said in the report that the two ships were terminated “due to default by the shipyard”, without elaborating further.
According to broking sources, the shipyard in question is Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, where Costamare had placed its previous shipbuilding contract in 2018.
In such cases, shipowning companies are known to be pursuing compensation claims for damages.
Costamare’s other six newbuildings at the same yard are not affected, however, as the company continues listing them as due for delivery between the first and third quarters of 2024.
These six ships comprise another pair of 12,690-teu container ships, as well as a quartet of 15,000-teu units. All are built on the back of secured, long-term employment with an unknown charterer.
Once delivered, the newbuildings will join the company’s fleet, currently totalling 76 container ships and 46 bulkers.
Earlier this month, Costamare announced the best annual earnings in its 47 years, with net income hitting $404m in 2021.
During a stellar year for boxships, Costamare entered into 35 chartering agreements generating $1.4bn in additional revenue to boost its total contract backlog to $3.4bn, with a weighted remaining time charter duration of 4.2 years.
The company said it was sitting on a liquidity pile of more than $550m to expand opportunistically.
