Costamare Orders Five, Buys Two Containerships

Greek shipping company Costamare has ordered five newbuild boxships and agreed to buy two secondhand containerships.

The new ships, each of about 12,690 TEU capacity, have been ordered from China’s Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group.

As informed, the ship quintet is expected to be delivered between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021. Upon delivery, the vessels will commence a ten-year time charter to Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.

The acquisition is expected to be financed with cash on hand and debt, according to Costamare.

What is more, the company agreed in June 2018 to purchase two 2013-built, 5,000 TEU wide-beam containerships, the c/v Megalopolis and the c/v Marathopolis.

Both vessels are expected to be delivered by September 2018 at the latest. Upon their delivery, the vessels will be chartered to Maersk Line for a period of seven years.

The acquisitions are expected to be initially financed with cash on hand. Costamare said it is in “advanced discussions with a leading European financial institution regarding the financing of the vessels.”

Commenting on the recently concluded agreements, Gregory Zikos, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, said: “We are pleased to expand our valued relationship with Yang Ming through the completion of our latest newbuilding transaction. At the same time, we are renewing our fleet with modern secondhand vessels backed by seven-year charters to Maersk Line.” 

“In aggregate, these new transactions provide us with additional contracted revenues of approximately USD 650 million and further extend our contract coverage to approximately 4 years,” Zikos added.

Apart from the five newbuildings and two secondhand boxships to be added to the company’s fleet, Costamare currently has a fleet of 80 containerships, with a total capacity of approximately 542,000 TEU.