Seaspan Corp has detailed $1.3bn of new lease financing as part of its massive 45-ship newbuilding drive.
And the shipowner said it is closing in on deals to fund another 24 new vessels.
The subsidiary of New York-listed Atlas Corp said it was taking the unusual step of revealing its financing status in the interests of transparency, due to the "magnitude of change in the composition of capital structure and impact on growth investment and related financing".
The latest sale-and-leaseback financing relates to 13 vessels out of the 45 ordered since December. The company did not name the financiers involved.
The funded ships are costing Seaspan $1.4bn at a variety of shipyards.
The vessels are expected to generate $2.7bn of contracted cash flow over the duration of their long-term charters.
The unspecified 13 units are due for delivery from the fourth quarter of 2021 through to the first quarter of 2024.
Growth trajectory assured
"The financing commitments for 13 newbuilds affirms the company's growth trajectory for the foreseeable future, and provides transparency on fleet expansion and related funding," said Seaspan and Atlas chief financial officer Graham Talbot.
"These significant financing initiatives provide investors with a clearer picture of the reliable and proven growth that has become the hallmark of Seaspan."
The company also said it has made "substantial" progress towards securing financing commitments for the remaining undelivered 32 ships.
Deals for 24 of these are anticipated to complete during the third quarter, while "optimal" financing is being assessed for the other eight, which were ordered earlier in June.
Liquidity tops $1bn
As of 31 May, Seaspan had total liquidity of $1.38bn.
This consists of $657.1m of cash and cash equivalents and $729.5m of availability under undrawn committed credit facilities.
The CFO added that significant progress has been made toward simplifying the Atlas balance sheet.
Earlier in June, the group said the capital structure was being streamlined in a series of deals worth $935m that will see it exchange notes and redeem preferred shares.
Atlas Corp said it is swapping $600m of notes held by Canadian backer Fairfax Financial Holdings for preferred equity paying an annual dividend of 7%.
The debt had been due in 2025, 2026 and 2027, with a coupon of 5.5%.
High-cost stock redeemed
Atlas is also buying back two series of "high-cost" 8.25% and 8.2% preferred shares for a total of $335m, the company said.
On 28 June, Seaspan added six 15,000-teu scrubber-fitted newbuildings at an unnamed shipyard.
The orderbook is made up of 43 neo-panamaxes of between 12,000 teu and 15,500 teu, plus two 24,000-teu ultra-large containerships.
Two 12,000-teu ships were ordered earlier in June.
Seaspan's newbuilding tally is likely to be even bigger than publicly disclosed.
Earlier in June, TradeWinds reported that the owner had strengthened its relationship with China State Shipbuilding Corp by pencilling in a $1.52bn newbuilding order for 20 neo-panamaxes.
