Angeliki Frangou’s Navios Maritime Partners has secured long-term charters worth $690m for 10 midsize containerships.

The deals include five-year charters for six 5,300-teu newbuildings to be built at China’s Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard.

The wide-beam vessels have been fixed for 60 to 64 months at $37,050 per day. This sum is estimated to earn Navios around $405m.

Speaking on a conference call, Frangou said the investment in wide-beam containerships had proved a “great opportunity”.

Navios ordered the vessels in July for $370m. Delivery is scheduled for 2023 and 2024.

The identity of the charterer has not been disclosed, but analyst Alphaliner names it as Israeli liner operator Zim.

The newbuildings have a beam of 38.8m and are part of a series of eight ships.

Rates double

Alphaliner lists the other vessels of the “CV Sapphire 5300" design as the 5,300-teu Maersk Zambezi (built 2020) and Orca-I (built 2021).

Navios Partners has also taken four 4,250-teu classic panamax containerships on long-term charter.

Frangou said they have been fixed for four years at more than twice their current rates.

Three have been chartered to an unnamed company for 50 to 54 months and a fourth for 42 to 44 months.

Rates are $46,536 per day for the first three-and-a-half years, which is estimated to net $240m in revenues.

The rate will slide to $31,906 per day for the rest of the charter.

New York-listed Navios Partners owns 43 containerships, of which about half are traditional panamaxes.

It added 29 boxships to its fleet this year after a merger with separate Frangou outfit Navios Maritime Containers.

“We have been taking advantage of robust markets through our chartering activity,” Frangou said in the company’s earnings statement.