John Coustas-led Danaos Corp, a US-listed owner with a current fleet of 70 container vessels and 17 container ships under construction, has now secured multi-year charter arrangements for all of the vessels in its newbuilding orderbook with an average charter duration of approximately 4.5 years weighted by aggregate contracted charter hire.
Over the past two months, the shipowner added approximately $900m to its contracted revenue backlog, which includes approximately $203m through forward two-year charter fixtures for nine existing container vessels, and approximately $697m of revenue backlog through a combination of new charters and charter extensions for 12 of its newbuildings.
As a result, total contracted cash operating revenues, on the basis of concluded charter contracts, currently stand at $3.2bln.
The contracted operating days charter coverage for the company’s container vessel fleet is currently 99% for 2024 and 80% for 2025.
Meanwhile the shipowner took delivery during the second quarter of 2024 of the first three newbuilding containerships, namely one 7,165 TEU and two 8,010 TEU vessels that have commenced their three-year charters.
Additionally, during that period the company added six newbuilding containerships to its orderbook.
These six newbuilding orders comprise of one additional 8,258 container vessel to be built at Yangzijiang shipyard in China expected to be delivered in 2027 and five 9,200 TEU container vessels to be built at Dalian shipyard in China, three of which have expected deliveries in 2027 and two in 2028.
As a result, Danaos remaining orderbook currently consists of a further 17 newbuilding containership vessels with an aggregate capacity of 139,019 TEU with expected deliveries of three additional vessels in 2024, two vessels in 2025, three vessels in 2026, seven vessels in 2027 and two vessels in 2028.
All the vessels in the orderbook will be methanol fuel ready, fitted with open loop scrubbers and alternative maritime power units and will be built in accordance with the latest requirements of the IMO in relation to Tier III emission standards and energy efficiency design index (EEDI) phase III.
John Coustas led-Danaos has also recently invested in the drybulk sector with the acquisition of 10 capesize drybulk vessels aggregating 1,760,861 dwt. As it is reported, the fleet is chartered to many of the world’s largest liner companies on fixed-rate charters.
“We have now taken delivery of all of our contracted capesize bulk carriers by taking delivery of two vessels in the second quarter of 2024 and one vessel in July 2024. As a result, our capesize dry bulk fleet currently stands at 10 vessels with an aggregate dwt capacity of approximately 1.8 million dwt,” reads the company’s statement.
Danaos’ CEO Dr. John Coustas commented: “The last few months brought continued market disruption as conditions in the Red Sea remained challenged and the Ukraine war persisted. Panama canal crossings, however, returned to normal levels, eliminating that source of disruption for now.
“Market conditions have led liner companies to reassess their capacity requirement and rushed to secure tonnage, including tonnage with forward deliveries. The forthcoming environmental legislation has further incentivized liner companies to secure modern newbuilding tonnage for medium term requirements without making long-term commitments in the majority of cases.
“In this environment we have secured charter extensions for a number of our existing ships and further we extended our newbuilding program to a total of 20 vessels, three of which were delivered in the second quarter.
“We have secured multi-year charters with an average charter duration of approximately 4.5 years, weighted by aggregate contracted charter hire, for all of our newbuilding vessels and we are very well positioned for the future.
“As a result, the company’s total contracted cash operating revenues are $3.2 billion. Contracted charter coverage for our container vessel fleet, including newbuildings, is currently 99% for 2024 and 80% for 2025, providing us excellent revenue visibility.
“With respect to our activities in the dry bulk sector, we have recently taken delivery of all 10 capesize vessels. We have been gearing up our operations to ensure the integration within our fleet during this building phase before we continue to explore opportunities to further our reach in this sector. Our revenues from the dry bulk sector have been steadily increasing, and we look forward to further diversifying our revenues and creating upside through the spot market exposure offered by the sector.
“Despite our recent fleet growth, renewal, and diversification activities, our balance sheet remains very strong, with a low net debt position.“We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure accretive performance of our assets and to deliver industry-leading returns to our shareholders over the long term.”
