New York-listed Costamare is further expanding its fleet with eight containership newbulidings and seven secondhand bulk carriers.
The Greek boxship and bulker owner has sealed a deal with an unnamed Asian shipyard for a 13,000 teu pair and exercised options for two more newbuildings of the same capacity and four 15,000 teu ships.
No price has been revealed for the vessels, which should deliver between Q3 2023 and Q1 2024 and go on long term charters with a leading liner company. The acquisitions will be funded by a mix of cash on hand and debt.
Meanwhile, the company has taken its bulker fleet to 44 ships, adding ultramaxes Soho Trader, Soho Merchant and Star Damon, a panamax pair George P and Egyptian Mike and two supramaxes Belnor and Belstar. With the exception of the Soho Trader, which has already joined the fleet, deliveries will take place this month and in January 2022.
Gregory Zikos, chief financial officer of Costamare, said: “During the year we chartered in total 47 container vessels adding contracted revenues of $1.8bn. Including the two recently concluded new building contracts and the options exercised, total contracted revenues amount to $4.8bn and the remaining weighted average time charter duration for the fleet is 6.3 years.
“At the same time we are expanding our dry bulk fleet, bringing the total number of owned dry bulk vessels to 44, executing on our decision to invest in a liquid sector where supply is limited by a low orderbook and demand is being driven by increased infrastructure spending and commodity consumption.”
Costamare has a fleet of 79 containerships with a total capacity of approximately 586,000 teu, including one secondhand purchase and two newbuilds currently under construction. In July, the company grew its dry bulk fleet to 37 ships. The latest deal for additional seven ships will increase its bulker fleet capacity to around 2.38m dwt.
