News / OOCL to charter Seaspan-commissioned newbuild box ships

© VanderWolfImages

OOCL is to charter the six 13,600 teu ships Seaspan ordered from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding last Friday.

Hong Kong-based OOCL, through its holding company Orient Overseas International, said yesterday the charter would be for 15 years from delivery, expected  between late 2026 and mid-2028.

Cumulative charter payments of CNY11.2bn ($1.57bn) will be made over the 15 years, equating to a daily hire of approximately $47,800 per vessel.

Comparing this with other recently concluded charter deals, OOCL noted that 27 16,000 teu newbuildings had been contracted this year for charter for between 12 and 15 years by other mainline operators at daily rates ranging from $70,000 to $75,000.

OOIL, which was acquired by Cosco in 2017, said in its Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing, chartering the newbuildings would “steadily increase the fleet capacity of the group, further consolidate its position in the industry and continuously promote the group’s scale and global development”.

Seven 24,000 teu and ten 16,000 teu ships are under construction for OOCL at affiliated shipyards alian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering and Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering for delivery from later this year to 2028. Meanwhile, its in-service fleet stands at 58 vessels, of 934,955 teu.

Seaspan commissioned the newbuildings in what is the first CNY-denominated ship building contract, as the Chinese government works to internationalise the currency as part of the Belt and Road initiative.

OOIL’s stock exchange filing said the Seaspan ships would be entered into its balance sheet as right-of-use assets with a book value of $916.3m, meaning Seaspan could realise a $16.3m profit by the end of the lease period.