Seaspan sees opportunity for containership chartering

   Gerry Wang, chairman and chief executive officer of the containership chartering firm Seaspan, said his firm has “never been as excited as we are today about the opportunities, dealing with all the new growth opportunities and also the financing transactions that we’re doing.”
   Wang made the comment this week while discussing the company’s fourth quarter results with investment bankers.
   Seaspan, which owns and charters containerships to liner companies, reported net earnings of $59 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, 151 percent more than the $23.5 million earned in the fourth quarter of 2011.
   For the full-year 2012 , Seaspan achieved net earnings of $121 million compared to an $83 million loss in 2011.
   The company noted it accepted delivery of four new ships in 2012, bringing its fleet to a total of 69 vessels at the end of 2012.
   In January 2013, Seaspan entered into contracts with Hyundai Heavy Industries for the construction of five 14,000-TEU ships, that will be delivered in 2015 and chartered to  Yang Ming.
   Seaspan also ordered four 10,000-TEU ships that will be built by the Jiangsu shipyards in China. They will be delivered in 2014 and chartered to MOL. Seaspan has also agreed to purchase four 2003-ships from MOL that will be chartered back to the Japanese carrier.
   Wang said there is “tremendous demand for fuel-efficient vessels” and liner companies want to take advantage of cheap prices as shipyards and new ship designs which allow them to reduce unit costs and make them more competitive.
   He also said because liner companies have not made much money for the past two to three years there is an “opportunity for us with a strong balance sheet to fulfill the void they have in the capital space.”
   “We’re just working on several projects at the same time, and I would anticipate some new deals to happen this year,” he said. – Chris Dupin