Seaspan Corp. Secures Financing for 70-Vessel Newbuild Program

Independent containership owner and operator Seaspan Corporation has secured the last of its financings for its full 70 vessel newbuild program, including three vessels recently delivered, the company announced Jan. 5.

The proceeds from the financings total about $6.9 billion and are to be drawn throughout construction of the newbuild program to fund a total investment of about $7.6 billion, the company said.

Proceeds from the financing total about $1.4 billion and will be used to finance 10 15,000-TEU LNG dual-fuel newbuild vessels, according to Seaspan.

“We have now concluded binding financing arrangements for our full newbuild program, solidifying our long-term liquidity,” Graham Talbot, the CFO of Seaspan and its parent company, Atlas Corp, stated.

The financing, Seaspan said, was completed on December 23, 2021. It combines two ship finance structures: export credit agency (ECA) backed loans supported by two Korean ECAs; and sale-leaseback arrangements under special Japanese lease contracts, or JOLCOs.

“Over the years, our partnership with Seaspan has yielded a number of innovative and value-added structures. With this transaction, we add yet another successful chapter to Seaspan’s story, and also develop the wider maritime asset financing market,” Shreyas Chipalkatty, Global Head of Shipping, Logistics & Offshore with investment bank and financial services corporation Citigroup said.

“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,” he remarked.

“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,” Chris Conway, Citi’s Global Head of Shipping and Logistics, Export and Agency Finance, added. “We are very proud to have been able to lead this combination of ECA and JOLCO for the first time in Korea.”