Seaspan orders feeder duo

Seaspan Corporation based in Vancouver has agreed to purchase two new building vessels from affiliates of Conti Holding GmbH & Co. KG (“Conti”) of Germany. This acquisition is incremental to Seaspan’s original contracted fleet, and will increase the company’s total fleet to 25 vessels. Seaspan will acquire the two 3,500 TEU vessels upon their delivery in February and July 2007 respectively from Zhejiang Shipbuilding in China. The total delivered cost is expected to be approximately $50 million per vessel, subject to certain pre-delivery expenses remaining at budgeted levels.

Seaspan has also arranged simultaneous twelve-year charter agreements for these vessels with Cosco Container Lines Co., Ltd. (“Coscon”) at $19,000 per day. Coscon is a subsidiary of China Cosco Holdings Co. Ltd., a major publicly traded container transport company and is the world’s ninth-largest liner shipping company in terms of capacity.

The 3,500 TEU vessels will complement Seaspan’s existing fleet of 9,600 TEU, 8,500 TEU and 4,250 TEU vessels. The smaller sized 3,500 TEU vessel is in demand among major charterers, including Seaspan’s existing customer base. Construction of the ships has just begun, which will allow the SMSL technical team to influence ship design and ensure greater uniformity with the existing fleet.