John Coustas-led Danaos Corporation have added two container ship newbuidings to its orderbook.
The Greek shipowner had sealed deals in June for the construction of two 8,258 teu containerships. The ships are expected to be delivered to the company in 2026.
This brings the total tally of Danaos newbuilding order-book to 10 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 74,914 teu, with expected deliveries of seven vessels in 2024, one vessel in 2025 and two vessels in 2026.
All of these ships will be designed with the latest eco characteristics and will be methanol fuel ready.
The containership owner has also revealed an agreement -in principle- to buy five Capesize bulk carriers build in 2010 through 2012.
In the previous month the company has reached an agreement to acquire five capesize bulk carriers that aggregate to 879,306 dwt for a total of $103 million.
The agreement is subject to entry into definitive documentation. The ships are expected to be delivered to Danos between September and October 2023.
The John Coustas current fleet consists of 68 containerships aggregating 421,293 teus and 10 under construction containerships aggregating 74,914 teus.
The company´s containership fleet is chartered to many of the world’s largest liner companies on fixed-rate charters.
As Danaos’ CEO Dr. John Coustas explains the “fleet of container vessels, which are contracted on multi-year charters, provides strong revenue and cash flow visibility.”
The company is optimizing and retrofitting its existing fleet portfolio, whilst it has committed to upgrade around 20 vessels with new propellers, fuel saving appendages and low friction paints.
“Danaos active strategy in the current market conditions is made possible by the prudent approach we have taken to manage our balance sheet to conservative levels, as well as our successful chartering strategy. The latter is reflected in our operating revenues of $241 million, which is near to previous records despite a charter market drop that is more than 50% lower than a year ago,” says John Coustas.
