Seaspan Adds 10 Containerships to its Already Massive Orderbook

Driven by the continuing demand for containership capacity, Seaspan announced that it is increasing its already large orderbook with a further ten containerships orders. The company, which primarily builds and finances vessels operated under charter to the large container lines, has been at the front of the pack driving the record containership orders in 2021. The company is adding a further nine percent in capacity to its orderbook.

According to the announcement, Seaspan has placed the order with an unspecified major shipyard, believed to be in China. The scrubber-fitted vessels are anticipated to begin deliveries in the second quarter of 2024, with deliveries continuing to the fourth quarter of 2024.

Typical of the company’s other announcements, they only said that the ten vessels would be operated under a long-term charter for a major carrier. Still, they also alluded to the fact that the vessels would be replacements for older tonnage. Reports are tying the order to Ocean Express Network (ONE), but Seaspan only reported that the charters were expected to generate $1.4 billion of gross contracted cash flows over their minimum terms.

“This transaction further highlights Seaspan’s unmatched platform and competitive solutions that meet our customers’ needs,” said Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan.

“With our previously announced order of fifteen 7,000 TEU dual fuel vessels, this newbuild order is further evidence of the deep customer demand for this vessel size, which is uniquely suited to replace the global fleet’s aging cohort of 4,000 to 9,000 TEU vessels.”

Earlier in 2021, Seaspan’s orders focused on larger capacity vessels in the 15,000 TEU range, including LNG fueled vessels for Zim. Currently, Seaspan has 32 vessels with a 15,000 TEU capacity on order. The company pointed to this being a size well positioned for the growing markets. Seaspan, however, has also ordered two ultra-large 24,000 TEU vessels.

With these latest orders, the total order book now stands at 70 vessels with total capacity of 1,959,200 TEU, on a fully delivered basis. Seaspan’s current fleet consists of 131 vessels and assuming all of the vessels remain in service the new orders would more than double the current capacity of 1,120,200 TEU.