SEASPAN
CORPORATION SIGNS CONTRACT TO BUILD
TWO
NEW 2500 TEU VESSELS
-
10-Year Charters Arranged with K-Line -
Hong
Kong, China, March 30, 2007 - Seaspan Corporation (“Seaspan”) (NYSE: SSW) today
announced that it has signed contracts to build two 2500 TEU vessels
at Jiangsu
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (“Jiangsu”) in China. These new orders are in
addition to the eight 2500 TEU vessels Seaspan ordered from Jiangsu in
2006. The
two newbuilding vessels will be delivered in March and June, 2010. The
total
delivered cost is expected to be approximately $46.4 million per vessel,
subject
to certain pre-delivery expenses remaining at budgeted levels.
Seaspan
also announced that it has arranged simultaneous ten-year charter agreements
for
these two vessels with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K-Line”) of Japan at a rate
of $17,880 per day. K-Line is Japan’s third-largest liner operator and is ranked
13th
in the
world by TEU capacity.
Each
new
vessel is expected to contribute between $4.5 million and $4.9 million
in
incremental EBITDA per annum upon delivery. For this purpose, EBITDA
shall mean
net earnings before interest, undrawn credit facility fees, taxes, depreciation
and amortization of deferred financing fees. This should result in an
increase
in distributable cash when the vessels are delivered and operating.
“We
are
very pleased to expand our customer base by adding another major Japanese
line
to our portfolio,” said Gerry Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Seaspan. “This
acquisition also expands our relationship with Jiangsu as we now have
ten 2500
TEU vessels in line to be delivered over the next three years from this
shipbuilder. Given the large number of ships in this series, we expect
to
realize significant economies of scale in the design, outfitting and
construction supervision costs of these vessels.”
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Seaspan
Management Services Limited will supervise the construction of the new
vessels
and operate the ships for Seaspan at an estimated fixed rate of $4,200
per day
through 2011.
The
company will use its existing credit facility to fund the down payments
for
these vessels. Permanent financing will be arranged in the coming months.
About
Seaspan
Seaspan
owns containerships and charters them pursuant to long-term fixed-rate
charters.
Seaspan’s fleet of 43 containerships consists of 26 existing containerships and
17 to be delivered over approximately the next three years. The 17 vessels
that
Seaspan has contracted to purchase are already committed to long-term
time
charters ranging from 10 to 12 years. Seaspan’s operating fleet of 24 vessels
has an average age of approximately five years with an average remaining
charter
period of approximately eight years. Seaspan’s customer base consists of six of
the largest liner companies, including China Shipping Container Lines,
A.P.
Møller-Mærsk, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Hapag-Lloyd, COSCO Container Lines and
K-Line.
Seaspan’s
common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
“SSW”.
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STATEMENT
REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This
release contains certain forward-looking statements (as such term is
defined in
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning
future events and our operations, performance and financial condition,
including, in particular, the likelihood of our success in developing
and
expanding our business. Statements that are predictive in nature, that
depend
upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such
as
“expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,”
“projects,” “forecasts,” “will,” “may,” “potential,” “should,” and similar
expressions are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
reflect management’s current views only as of the date of this presentation and
are not intended to give any assurance as to future results. As a result,
you
are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements appear in a number of places in this release. Although these
statements are based upon assumptions we believe to be reasonable based
upon
available information, including operating margins, earnings, cash flow,
working
capital and capital expenditures, they are subject to risks and uncertainties.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: future
operating
or financial results; our expectations relating to dividend payments
and
forecasts of our ability to make such payments; pending acquisitions,
business
strategy and expected capital spending; operating expenses, availability
of
crew, number of off-hire days, drydocking requirements and insurance
costs;
general market conditions and shipping market trends, including charter
rates
and factors affecting supply and demand; our financial condition and
liquidity,
including our ability to obtain additional financing in the future to
fund
capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate activities;
estimated future capital expenditures needed to preserve our capital
base; our
expectations about the availability of ships to purchase, the time that
it may
take to construct new ships, or the useful lives of our ships; our continued
ability to enter into long-term, fixed-rate time charters with our customers;
our ability to leverage to our advantage Seaspan Management Services
Limited’s
relationships and reputation in the containership industry; changes in
governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities;
changes in worldwide container demand; changes in trading patterns; competitive
factors in the markets in which we operate; potential inability to implement
our
growth strategy; potential for early termination of long-term contracts
and our
potential inability to renew or replace long-term contracts; ability
of our
customers to make charter payments; potential liability from future litigation;
conditions in the public equity markets; and other factors detailed from
time to
time in our periodic reports. We expressly disclaim any obligation to
update or
revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future
events, new information, a change in our views or expectations, or otherwise.
We
make no prediction or statement about the performance of our common and
subordinated shares.
For
Investor Relations Inquiries:
Mr.
Kevin
M. Kennedy
Chief
Financial Officer
Seaspan
Corporation
Tel.
604-638-2575
For
Media Inquiries:
Mr.
Leon
Berman
The
IBG
Group
Tel.
212-477-8438
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