After three years of silence, Seaspan Corporation, the world’s largest independent container shipowner, has returned strongly to the new shipbuilding market.
Seaspan’s parent company, Atlas Corporation, disclosed in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that Seaspan signed a total of 27 container shipbuilding contracts in June this year, with capacities ranging from 9,000 TEU to 17,000 TEU. All of the new ships have been awarded long-term charter contracts and are expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2028. Atlas has not yet disclosed the specific value of the relevant shipbuilding contracts and shipyard information.
According to the document, the contracts for the construction of 13 of the 27 containerships have been assigned to “certain nominees”, including four 9,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel powered containerships, four 9,000 TEU liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel containerships, and five 17,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships. Seaspan will acquire the ships from the “nominee” on bareboat charters and on long term charters to liner shipping companies upon delivery in 2027 and 2028.
The contract for the construction of four 9,000 TEU LNG dual fuel powered containerships has been assigned to the customer; five 17,000 TEU LNG dual fuel powered containerships and five 16,000 TEU LNG dual fuel powered containerships have been booked by an undisclosed liner company.
None of the counterparty information surrounding the above contracts has been disclosed yet, but Seaspan entered into an agreement with New Times Shipbuilding on June 30, 2024 for five 16,800 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships, with deliveries expected to take place in 2027 (four units) and 2028 (one unit), according to Clarksons data. The five ships will be chartered by Maersk as part of the company’s newly announced 800,000 TEU fleet renewal program, the sources said.
In addition, it was reported in May this year that Seaspan had ordered six 13,000 TEU LNG-powered containerships from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding under a long-term charter contract, which are expected to be delivered from early 2027 to 2028; has ordered four 9,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel powered containerships from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, which are expected to be delivered between the second half of 2027 and 2028, to be chartered by Japan’s Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Maersk, respectively.
As the world’s largest containership charterer, Seaspan operates a fleet of 176 ships with a total capacity of 1.82 million TEUs as of June 30, 2024, of which 41 newbuildings are scheduled for delivery until August 2029.
The latest order marks Seaspan’s return to the containership newbuilding market after nearly three years since the summer of 2021. During the previous container newbuilding boom, Seaspan ordered more than 70 containerships, most of which were built by Chinese shipyards.