Costamare Finds Work for 5 Newbuildings

Greece-based containership owner Costamare informed it has entered into time charter agreements for all five 11,000 TEU newbuildings acquired under the company’s JV with York Capital.

The vessels have been chartered for periods of up to twelve months at an average rate of about USD 18,000 per day.

As disclosed, the first two boxships, Cape Akritas and Cape Tainaro have been delivered to their charterers and have commenced operations. Another two vessels, Cape Kortia and Cape Sounio, are expected to be handed over to their charterers during the first week of May 2017. The last vessel, Cape Artemisio, is scheduled to be delivered from the shipyard and to its charterers during the second week of June 2017.

“We have now chartered all five 11,000 TEU new buildings for periods of up to one year and we have secured debt finance for the last remaining 11,000 TEU ship. As of today (April 27), all of our new building program is fully funded with remaining equity commitments amounting to only USD 2 million, due in 2018,” Gregory Zikos, Chief Financial Officer of Costamare, commented.

Namely, in April 2017, Costamare entered into a loan agreement with an undisclosed European financial institution for the financing of the last 11,000 TEU vessel on order, worth up to USD 44 million which will be repayable over 3 years.

Zikos further said that Costamare continues to charter its containerships, having chartered a total of seven vessels since the last quarter. Currently, the company has no ships laid up.

“At the same time, we are renewing our fleet. We have bought three secondhand ships, which have been chartered for periods ranging from five to seven years. Those vessels are expected to be delivered within May. The ships have been bought with equity and we are in discussions with financial institutions regarding debt finance,” Zikos added.

Costamare purchased the 4,957 TEU container vessels Leonidio and Kyparissia in March 2017 and the 7,491 TEU Megalopolis in April. The three boxships will work for Maersk Line.

The announcements come on the back of Costamare’s financial results for the first quarter of 2017 which show that the company delivered a net income of USD 23 million, lower than a net income of USD 35 million posted in the same period last year.

During the three-month period, voyage revenue also decreased by 12.3% to USD 105.5 million from USD 120.3 million recorded in the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

As of April 27, Costamare’s fleet comprised a total of 69 ships and three newbuildings.