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INDEPENDENT owner and operator of containerships, Seaspan Corporation, announced it now has financing lined up for its entire 70-vessel newbuild programme, according to media reports.
With the completion of the latest US$1.4 billion deal in December, Seaspan said its financing proceeds are approximately $6.9 billion.
Seaspan, a subsidiary of Atlas Corp, said the $1.4 billion will be used to finance ten 15,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel newbuilds, the last of its recent $7.6 billion containership ordering spree, including three ships that have already been delivered.
CFO of Atlas and Seaspan, Graham Talbot, said: "We have now concluded binding financing arrangements for our full newbuild programme, solidifying our long-term liquidity. We have demonstrated consistent success in executing on attractive growth opportunities at the right time while diligently managing associated risk."
Seaspan charters its vessels primarily pursuant to long-term, fixed-rate time charters. Its operating fleet consists of 134 vessels with a total capacity of 1,156,800 TEU, plus 67 vessels under construction, increasing total capacity to 1,959,200 TEU, on a fully delivered basis.
The latest financing combines export credit agency (ECA) backed loans supported by Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure), and the Export -Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), which is additionally providing a direct funding tranche, and sale-leaseback deals under special Japanese lease contracts (JOLCOs). The JOLCOs include Japanese equity and ECA-backed syndicated bank loans.
"This financing is our second ECA-JOLCO transaction, and only the second of its kind, which was developed with our partners at Citi, K-Sure, and KEXIM in parallel with a sister transaction announced in December," said Mr Talbot. "Creativity and strong global partnerships have allowed us to bring this structure to fruition, improving our credit quality and equity returns through long-tenor and remarkably low-cost funding."
"Over the years, our partnership with Seaspan has yielded a number of innovative and value-added structures," said Shreyas Chipalkatty, Citi Global Head of Shipping, Logistics & Offshore. Citibank, through its branches, acted as Global Coordinator, ECA Admin Agent, Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner in the transaction.
"With this transaction, we add yet another successful chapter to Seaspan's story, and also develop the wider maritime asset financing market. It is a distinct honor to have been part of this journey with the Seaspan team and we look forward to continuing our successful collaboration in the new era that is emerging for the Maritime Logistics space," Mr Chipalkatty added.
Chris Conway, Citi Global Head of Shipping and Logistics, Export and Agency Finance, added, "After a lengthy development period this innovative structure has been fully embraced by the Export Agency community as an important tool to help foster exports from the leading shipbuilders. We are very proud to have been able to lead this combination of ECA and JOLCO for the first time in Korea."
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