Danaos buys six used boxships for $260

Danaos Corporation has inked a deal to acquire six secondhand 5,466-teu containerships. The “eco-design wide beam ships” have an average age of 6.8 years and were built in the Philippines at the Hanjin Subic Bay shipyard.

All the vessels are on time charter to “leading liner companies”, with an average charter time of approximately two years.

The company reports that the deal is worth $260m and will be funded from cash reserves, although Danoas said it was contemplating debt financing alternatives to finance part of the asking price.

“We are very pleased to announce an immediately accretive acquisition of a modern fleet at a fraction of the newbuilding cost and considerably lower than its charter free market value,” said Danaos’ CEO, Dr. John Coustas.

“The purchase price and contracted revenue associated with the vessels significantly reduce the residual risk of this transaction…”