Ship Finance to build 4 containerships

Ship Finance to build 4 containerships    Ship Finance International Ltd. said Monday it has agreed to build four 4,800-TEU new containerships at a state-owned shipyard in China with scheduled delivery in 2013.
   The aggregate construction cost will be about $230 million, with a majority of the payment due on delivery of the vessels, and Ship Finance said it expects to secure bank financing for up to 80 percent of the purchase price.
   The company said the ships will be time chartered to “a large, European-based container line for seven years from delivery, and the charter rate will be approximately $26,250 net per day per vessel. The vessels are high specification, so-called wide-beam container vessels, optimized for higher cargo intake and very efficient speed/consumption economics compared to existing vessels of similar size.”
   Ship Finance said it has a fleet of 75 vessels, including 28 VLCC and Suezmax crude tankers, two chemical tankers, eight oil/bulk/ore vessels, 11 dry bulk carriers including nine newbuildings, 15 container vessels, six offshore supply vessels, two jack-up drilling rigs, one ultra-deepwater drill ship and two ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rigs.