Seaspan, the world’s largest independent container ship owner, has signed a sales and leaseback agreement for 19 vessels.
According to information disclosed by Seaspan’s parent company Atlas Corp, the series of agreements includes 15 container ships ranging in size from 11,400 TEU to 17,000 TEU and four car carriers ranging in size from 7,000 CEU to 10,800 CEU, with total financing of approximately US$2.78 billion, part of which (US$775.4 million) is denominated in RMB.
The term of this series of agreements ranges from 9 to 17 years. Seaspan holds a fixed-rate purchase option for all 19 vessels, among which 5 vessels come with a purchase obligation. Rent payments are based on either fixed rates or floating rates linked to benchmark indices, with interest spread adjustments applied.
As of June 30, Seaspan had a total of 96 vessels under sales and leaseback financing structures, with total borrowings of approximately US$7.8 billion.
As the world’s largest container ship lessor, Seaspan operates a fleet of more than 180 vessels and has confirmed orders for more than 40 new vessels. Its latest shipbuilding contract is a letter of intent with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding for six 8,300 TEU container vessels. In April this year, Seaspan also signed a contract with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding for the construction of six 11,400 TEU container vessels.