Danaos to buy four container ships for US$400m
Danaos Corp, the largest publicly traded container-shipper in the US by market value, agreed to buy four ships from China Shipbuilding Trading for about US$400 million.
The ships, each with a capacity of 6,800 standard containers, will be built by Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry and are scheduled for delivery in the second and third quarters of 2010, Athens-based Danaos said last week.
The vessels, which Danaos will finance through existing credit facilities and its own funds, will raise the number of new container ships on order to 19.
That's equal to a carrying capacity of 102,324 containers, or 73 per cent of the company's existing capacity, Danaos said.
The price of hiring a ship able to transport 4,300 containers fell 5.7 per cent to an average of US$51,000 a day last year, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants in London.
There are no published price benchmarks for larger carriers, according to Philip Damas, Drewry's head of research.
There are 933 container ships on order at shipyards globally, and 3,765 in service, according to Lloyd's Register-Fairplay on Bloomberg.
Shares of Danaos closed at US$24.48 in New York on Friday, valuing the company at US$1.34 billion. The shares have gained 16.5 per cent since the company sold shares for the first time in October.
The ships, each with a capacity of 6,800 standard containers, will be built by Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry and are scheduled for delivery in the second and third quarters of 2010, Athens-based Danaos said last week.
The vessels, which Danaos will finance through existing credit facilities and its own funds, will raise the number of new container ships on order to 19.
That's equal to a carrying capacity of 102,324 containers, or 73 per cent of the company's existing capacity, Danaos said.
The price of hiring a ship able to transport 4,300 containers fell 5.7 per cent to an average of US$51,000 a day last year, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants in London.
There are no published price benchmarks for larger carriers, according to Philip Damas, Drewry's head of research.
There are 933 container ships on order at shipyards globally, and 3,765 in service, according to Lloyd's Register-Fairplay on Bloomberg.
Shares of Danaos closed at US$24.48 in New York on Friday, valuing the company at US$1.34 billion. The shares have gained 16.5 per cent since the company sold shares for the first time in October.
