Major container feeder vessels firm Contships Logistics Corp. has agreed to extend its charters with the Marseille-based container shipping line CMA CGM for two vessels, the 1,256 TEU Contship Ace and the 1,072 TEU Contship Zen, for a term of 21 to 24 months. The gross daily charter rates are $16,500 and $15,500, respectively.
Greek owner Nikolas Pateras, who sees his fleet expanding to 35 vessels, expects these charter extensions to contribute around $22m to the company’s revenue backlog, which will increase to $209m as of October 1, 2025.
The boxship owner, who is bolstering Contships’ role as one of the world’s biggest independent owners of feeder container ships, announced also on Tuesday, Oct. 7 that the company will voluntarily prepay within October 2025 approximately $102.0m across its existing loan facilities with Alpha Bank S.A., CrediaBank S.A., Eurobank S.A., National Bank of Greece S.A., and Piraeus Bank S.A.
Following these prepayments, the company says the outstanding secured bank debt will be reduced from $116.5m to $14.5m. The total outstanding unsecured bonds due 2030 will remain at $175.0m, whilst the cash balance will be around $101.6m (including the sale proceeds of Contship Ten scheduled to be delivered in late Oct. 2025).
Nikolas D. Pateras, chairman and CEO of Contships, stated: “We are utilizing our excess liquidity to make voluntary loan prepayments, reducing our gross LTV to 3%, and thus, lowering 2026 principal repayments by US$29.5 million, and reducing expected 2026 interest cost by US$4.2 million.
“With container feeder markets remaining robust, evidenced by the recent charter extensions agreed with CMA CGM, we expect to continue generating strong free cash flow.
“This, along with our strategic initiative to voluntarily prepay our secured indebtedness, will further reinforce our balance sheet as we are actively pursuing acquisition opportunities to expand and renew our fleet.”
