GCI acquisition spurs Seaspan’s profitable Q2

The Hong Kong-based containership leasing giant’s net earnings shot up 140.5 percent.    Seaspan Corp.’s net earnings and revenues in the second quarter of 2018 skyrocketed year-over-year thanks to its acquisition of Greater China Intermodal Investments (GCI).
   Seaspan’s net earnings for the quarter reached $68 million, surging 140.5 percent from last year’s second quarter, while revenues totaled $281.7 million, up 37.7 percent.
   The Hong Kong-based containership leasing giant had acquired the remaining 89 percent of GCI it did not own from affiliates of The Carlyle Group and the minority owners of GCI in March of this year. Through the acquisition, Seaspan acquired GCI’s fleet of 16 operating containerships and two newbuilds. The deal increased Seaspan’s average vessel size and decreased the average age of ships in its fleet.
   In May, Seaspan took delivery of four, 10,000-TEU vessels, which are all on long-term fixed rate charters with French ocean carrier CMA CGM.
   Seaspan’s operating fleet currently consists of 112 containerships with a total capacity of more than 900,000 TEUs and an average age of about six years.
   Vessel utilization for the quarter totaled 98.6 percent, up from 98.2 percent for last year’s second quarter, primarily due to higher utilization of vessels acquired from GCI and the 2018 vessel deliveries.