Greek containership operator Euroseas has announced its latest head-turning charters for two of its ships at “more than twice” the rate their existing contracts, highlighting the continued strength of the containership market.
The company announced Wednesday that its 2,556 TEU MV M/V “Evridiki G”, built in 2001, entered into a new charter contract for between 36 and 38 months at a daily rate of $40,000. Meanwhile, its MV EM Corfu, of the same capacity and age, has been chartered for between 36 and 38 months also at a daily rate of $40,000. The charters are expected to begin February 1, 2022 and following a dry-docking period in mid-February 2022, respectively.
“We are very pleased to announce new charters for two of our vessels for periods of at least three years each at rates more than twice the levels of their existing employment,” said Euroseas Chairman and CEO, Aristides Pittas. “The new charters secure a minimum of $85m of contracted revenues and are expected to make an annualized EBITDA contribution in excess of $22.3m combined which is about $19m (or, at least, seven times) higher than their joint contribution over the last twelve months of about $3m. These new charters significantly improve both our profitability and cash flow visibility with our charter coverage for 2022 now exceeding 85% and for 2023 55%.”
“Undoubtedly, the containership markets continue to show their strength and momentum as indicated by the rate and the duration of the above charters. We expect to be able to continue benefitting from the present strong market as there are another two of our vessels opening up for re-chartering within the next four months and, yet, another two vessels later in 2022,” added Pittas. “Furthermore, we started exploring chartering options for our two newbuildings which are expected to be delivered by the end of first and second quarters of 2023, respectively, as initially scheduled. If the present market levels continue, renewals of expiring charters should result in significant further increases in our profitability and employment coverage for the following years, providing a solid liquidity foundation for further growth of our company and rewards to our shareholders as our Board or Directors sees fit.”
These latest contracted add to a growing list of recent Euroseas charters at rates that were unheard of before the pandemic, including a two to three month charter for its panamax ship MV Synergy Oakland at a rate of $130,000 per day, announce din September. The same ship has also locked in a two-month charter for a staggering $200,000 per day in November. The latter will be followed by a $42,000 per day charter for a period of 48 to 51 months.
Source: gCaptain