New York-listed Costamare has forward fixed 11 of its containerships to an unnamed leading liner, boosting its contracted revenues by about $420m.
The Greek boxship and bulker owner has chartered out seven ships for four to five years starting in 2025, and the remaining vessels will start new contracts in 2023 and 2024.
Specifically, six ships between 8,800 teu and 11,000 teu the Valor, Value, Valiant, Valence, Vantagewith and Cape Artemisio have been forward chartered for 60 to 64 months until 2030. The vessels are currently contracted to Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd until 2025.
The 8,531 teu Navarino, which has an existing charter with MSC that matures in 2025, will also start its new contract in 2025 for 48 to 52 months until 2029.
Smaller units between 1,000 teu and 1,300 teu the Luebeck and Trader have secured employment from 2024 for 24 to 26 months, while the 1,300 teu Michigan and 2,556 teu Etoile will enter new charters in 2023 for 24 to 26 months and 36 to 39 months, respectively.
Commenting on the long-term forward fixtures Gregory Zikos, chief financial officer of Costamare, noted that fixing activity has been at low levels and that the majority of new fixtures are for short-term employment. “Charter rates have been under pressure, although they remain at profitable levels,” he added.
Costamare, with a fleet of nearly 120 ships, logged a second-quarter 2022 net of around $115m in line with last year’s result. The company said that more than 96% and 84% of its containership fleet is fixed for 2023 and 2024, respectively. As for the bulkers, 34 charters have been agreed since the Q2 2022 earnings release.
