SEASPAN
CORPORATION SIGNS CONTRACTS TO BUILD
EIGHT
NEW 8500 TEU VESSELS
-
Twelve-Year Charters Arranged with COSCON -
CONFERENCE
CALL AND WEBCAST SCHEDULED
TO
DISCUSS TRANSACTION
Hong
Kong, China, May 14, 2007 - Seaspan Corporation (“Seaspan”) (NYSE: SSW) today
announced that it has signed contracts to build eight 8500 TEU vessels
at
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (“HHI”) in South Korea. The eight newbuilding
vessels are scheduled to be delivered between the fourth quarter of 2009
and the
fourth quarter of 2010. The total delivered cost is expected to be approximately
$132.5 million per vessel, subject to certain pre-delivery expenses remaining
at
budgeted levels.
Seaspan
also announced that it simultaneously entered into twelve-year charter
agreements for each of these eight vessels with Cosco Container Lines (Hong
Kong) Co., Ltd., an affiliate of Cosco Container Lines Co., Ltd. (“Coscon”) of
China, at a rate of $42,900 per vessel per day. The charterer will have
three
consecutive one year options to charter each of the ships for $43,400 per
vessel
per day after the twelve year firm charter periods.
Coscon
is
one of the largest container shipping companies in the world.
Each
new
vessel is expected to contribute between $13.2 million and $13.6 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
began
working with Coscon last year when we purchased two 3500 TEU vessels for
12 year
charter to this major Chinese liner operator and we are very pleased to
expand
the relationship at this time by adding another eight vessels that will
cost
approximately $1 billion,” said Gerry Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Seaspan.
“The acquisition of these new ships will bring our total fleet to 55 vessels
and
add over $100 million in annual EBITDA once all eight vessels are delivered
and
operating. We believe this investment demonstrates the power of our business
model to finance large scale vessel acquisitions to meet the needs of the
top
operators in the liner industry.”
Seaspan
Management Services Limited will supervise the construction of the new
vessels
and operate the ships for Seaspan at an estimated fixed rate of $6,000
per day
through 2011.
The
company will use a combination of proceeds received from its recent equity
offering, a drawing under its recently amended and restated $1.3 billion
loan
facility and cash from operations to fund the down payments for these vessels.
Permanent financing for subsequent installments will be arranged in the
coming
months.
Seaspan
plans to host a conference call for all shareholders and interested parties
on
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. ET to discuss the transaction.
Conference
Call and Webcast Information:
Date of Conference Call: |
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 |
Scheduled Time: |
11:00 a.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. CT /
9:00
a.m. MT / 8:00 a.m. PT |
Participant Toll Free Dial In
#: |
1-800-378-6780 |
International Dial In #: |
1-913-643-4208 |
To
access
the live webcast of the conference call, go to www.seaspancorp.com and
click on
“Investor Relations” then “Events Calendar” for the link. The webcast will be
archived on the site for one year.
A
replay
of the conference call will also be available from 2:00 p.m. ET on May
15, 2007
through to 11:59 p.m. ET on May 29, 2007. The replay telephone numbers
are:
1-888-203-1112 or 1-719-457-0820 and the replay passcode is:
1561964.
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About
Seaspan
Seaspan
owns containerships and charters them pursuant to long-term fixed-rate
charters.
Seaspan’s fleet of 55 containerships consists of 26 existing containerships and
29 to be delivered over approximately the next 3.5 years. The 29 vessels
that
Seaspan has contracted to purchase are already committed to long-term time
charters averaging approximately 11.0 years in duration from delivery.
Seaspan’s
operating fleet of 26 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 seven of the largest liner companies, including
China
Shipping Container Lines, A.P. Møller-Mærsk, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Hapag-Lloyd,
Coscon, K-Line and CSAV.
Seaspan’s
common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
“SSW”.
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;
-more-
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
-end-