Costamare orders first new boxships for seven years
- Second-quarter profit rises in first results reflecting spin-off of dry bulk business in May
- Recent charters, including employment of freshly contracted feeders, add more than $310m to secured revenues
- Containership rates continue to be ‘healthy across the board’, says Greek owner
Eight-year charters confirmed for quartet of 3,100 teu vessels from unnamed Chinese builder
COSTAMARE confirmed it has contracted four containerships from a Chinese shipbuilder as recent charter deals locked in at least another $310m in revenues for the New York Stock Exchange-listed owner.
The 3,100 teu vessels were scheduled for delivery in 2027 and would enter eight-year charters with a “first-class” liner company, said Costamare.
The company gave no further details of the vessels, nor identified the specific yard.
The Greece-based owner said it expects to pay for the vessels with cash on hand and debt financing.
The move is Costamare’s first confirmed newbuilding order since five 12,960 teu vessels were contracted from Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding in 2018.
In a separate recent chartering agreement that contributed to the rise in contracted revenues, the company disclosed it has forward-chartered two older containerships of 6,500 teu for three years beginning in the first half of next year.
Costamare’s total revenue backlog has reached $2.5bn and the fleet of 68 ships has a remaining charter duration of an average 3.2 years, with this year fully covered and 75% employment coverage for 2026.
“With less than 1% of the fleet commercially idle, the containership fleet can be considered fully employed,” said chief financial officer Gregory Zikos.
“Charter rates remain healthy across the board and the short supply keeps rates at robust levels.”
Zikos said that current low fixing activity in the sector stemmed from “low availability of prompt tonnage rather than lack of demand”.
The comments came as the owner reported its first quarterly results that reflected the spin-off of its dry bulk business in May this year, a move that left a pure containership fleet.
Costamare Bulkers, which includes an owned fleet of bulkers as well as the CBI operating platform that charters in an extensive fleet of larger bulkers, is expected to report results next week.
Second-quarter net income available to common stockholders from continuing operations increased to $99.6m, from $87.1m in the same quarter last year.
Revenues from the containership fleet were more or less in line with the same quarter a year ago at $210.9m versus $211.8m last year.
The $900,000 dip in charter revenues was offset by a $800,000 increase in income from Costamare’s investments in leaseback vessels via the Neptune Maritime Leasing platform that has now funded or is in the process of funding 47 vessels, with total investments and commitments of more than $650m .
Net profit available to common stockholders from continuing operations for the first six months of 2025 increased to $205.8m, from $181.7m at the same stage last year.
With its newbuilding quartet, the owner becomes the latest of a stream of owners in recent weeks to contract new tonnage for the large feeder segment of the boxship market.
