Seaspan orders yet more tonnage from Chinese shipyard
Another four container ships and charterers already in place

Seaspan Corporation announced on Thursday that it has signed contracts to build four 4250 TEU vessels at Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in China.

These new orders are in addition to the ten 2500 TEU vessels Seaspan previously ordered from Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a shipyard affiliated with Jiangsu.

The four newbuilding vessels are scheduled to be delivered between March and September, 2009. The total delivered cost is expected to be approximately $66.1 million per vessel, subject to certain pre-delivery expenses remaining at budgeted levels.

Seaspan also announced that it has arranged simultaneous six-year charter agreements for these four vessels with Compania SudAmerica de Vapores SA of Chile at a rate of $25,925 per day. CSAV is the largest liner shipping company in South America and is ranked 16th in the world by TEU capacity.

"Adding the premier South American shipping line to our customer portfolio is another significant step in the geographic diversification of our customer portfolio," said Gerry Wang (pictured), Chief Executive Officer of Seaspan. "While these time charters are shorter in duration than our typical charter parties for new vessels, the expiry dates in 2015 fit well into the balanced charter maturity profile of our fleet."

Seaspan Management Services Limited will supervise the construction of the new vessels and operate the ships for Seaspan at an estimated fixed rate of $4,725 per day through 2011.