Tonnage provider Seaspan Corp has forward fixed 18 container ships for periods of up to two years.
The leading owner has agreed with a major European liner company to extend current charters on the vessels due to expire from next year through to 2025.
The contracts are expected to generate around $200m of incremental gross contracted cash flow.
Seaspan did not name the ships, which have a total capacity of 83,750 teu.
That suggests an average size of 4,600 teu and indicates they are mostly traditional panamax-sized.
The vessels were previously scheduled to roll off charters in 2023 and 2024.
“The immediate result of forward fixing these vessels further contributes to minimising our roll-off profile through 2025,” said Bing Chen, chief executive of Seaspan’s New York-listed parent company, Atlas Corp.
The forward fixtures reflect “our long-term partnership model with industry-leading customers”, he added.
“The deals underline Seaspan’s strength in generating quality and predictable cash flows.”
The desire of increasing numbers of liner operators to forward fix vessels reflects confidence in the enduring strength of the charter market.
A shortage of container vessels has already led to more enquiries for ships that will not be delivered until late this year or early 2023.
That is increasingly apparent in the smaller box sizes.
Oslo-listed MPC Container Ships (MPCC) has already been able to renew charters on 14 of 24 boxships that are expected to be renewed this year.
Owners of larger vessels are also starting to fix tonnage into the future.
John Fredriksen-backed shipowning company SFL Corp yesterday revealed five-year charters for six 14,000-teu container ships with Hapag-Lloyd.
The New York-listed sale-and-leaseback specialist will charter the vessels to the German liner operator in 2023 and 2024 when their existing charters with Evergreen Line expire.
Investment grade
Seaspan has been actively forward fixing vessels for several months.
Last August, it signed forward charters for 10 containerships of 10,000 teu with Japanese carrier Ocean Network Express.
Seaspan’s long-term business model is a rarity in the non-operating container shipping segment, but that is likely to help it attain investment grade, argues Alphaliner.
“An investment grade rating would enable Seaspan to raise funds more easily and give firepower to the company’s goal to be a ‘consolidator’ in the container ship industry,” the analyst said.
Atlas Corp posted a fourth-quarter net profit of $142.3m, reversing a $26.1m loss a year earlier.
