China to Supply Five 14,000 Ton Container Ships

Seaspan, a leader in world shipping, announced that they would be contracting Chinese Shipbuilder Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation for the manufacture of five (5) fuel efficient container ships. The ships are of the 14,000 TEU variety and are to be constructed in South Korea and delivered in 2015. These ships will make use of Seaspan’s Action on Vessel Energy Reduction (SAVER) schematics for its construction. Seaspan’s recent design improvements will be evident in the design since the SAVER design is developed as a means of fuel efficient container ship operation. The energy benefits of the SAVER design are likely to save companies millions of dollars in fuel and improve the emissions as a result of SAVER class ships utilizing new Clean Ballast technology. A joint effort by MARIN and Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC) was responsible for the creation of this new class of ship which optimizes the hull for movement and minimizes fuel consumption, thereby reducing the overhead cost to the operators. The development of this hull was unique in that it challenged the usual design methodology and applied a combination of mathematical computations with accurate modeling data to create a hull that has a low operational speed range and a relatively acceptable top speed. The contract awarded to Yang Ming Marine Transport for construction of the ships takes advantage of a ten-year, fixed-rate time charters that have an option for a two-year extension to the contract. Seaspan will finance this project with a share of the proceeds from series C and D preferred share offerings for the initial investment, and a variety of sources of alternative funding available to them as the project progresses. The contract also states a right of first refusal agreement with a partner of The Carlyle Group (Greater China Intermodal Investments LLC) and Blue Water Commerce LLC. Seaspan remains a global leader in ship management services and long-term leases on container ships and the new SAVER design is almost guaranteed to increase its market share in the coming months. As the shipping industry grows in the coming years and the world turns to greener technologies for transportation and commerce, the SAVER design has a lot of commercial viability. The fuel efficiency, along with the reduction in emissions, makes for a much more attractive means of transportation and gives a viable alternative to shipping companies aiming to take a more conservational approach to their business.