Seaspan Gains Weight

Seaspan orders four more vessels
From Sailings Magazine, March 2007

Seaspan Corporation of Vancouver has signed a contract with Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding in China to build four 2,500-TEU vessels for delivery between September 2008 and March 2009.

These newbuilds will increase the company’s contracted fleet to 29 vessels.

The total delivered cost is expected -to be approximately $44.5 million per vessel, subject to certain predelivery expenses, the company said.

Seaspan also announced that it has arranged simultaneous 12-year charter agreements for the four vessels with China Shipping Container Lines (Asia) Co. Ltd. at an initial rate of $16,750 per day,’ increasing to $16,900 per day after six years.

CSCL Asia is a subsidiary of China Shipping Container Lines Co. Ltd., the world’s sixth largest liner company.

Seaspan currently owns a fleet of 15 container ships consisting of 13 4,250-TEU vessels and two 8,500-TEU vessels.

I guess since the IPO last year, Seaspan has the cash to expand a little. The Economist Magazine give a good overview of the current situation in general and puts a bit of a dire spin on things. Martin