Danaos Corporation, one of the world’s largest independent owners of container vessels and drybulk vessels, reported unaudited results for the period ended September 30, 2025.
Highlights for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2025 and up to date of this release:
Danaos’ CEO Dr. John Coustas commented:
“As we enter the final months of the year, operating conditions remain broadly unchanged. The war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight, and while the conflict in the Middle East is in the process of resolution, transit through the Red Sea has not yet resumed and liners are waiting for more permanent signs of stability to restart the transit.
The recent de-escalation in trade and tariff tensions between the United States and China enabled trade to resume unhindered, while the redirection of Chinese exports to the EU and other countries kept trading and container traffic at an all times high during the third quarter of the year. The charter market remains robust, and the idle fleet remains at all-time low. Demand for mid-size and larger vessels continues unabated, and we have secured new charters for vessels opening as far out as the beginning of 2028. Shipyard slots for 2028 deliveries are becoming scarce and newbuilding prices continue to rise. We have selectively extended our newbuilding program at below market prices and we have already secured multi-year employment for these new orders. Following the IMO’s one-year postponement of its Net-Zero Framework, we expect conventional fuels to remain prevalent in the medium term, even as the long-term decarbonization trajectory is unchanged.
In relation to our newbuilding program, we recently added six 1,800 TEU vessels to our orderbook with scheduled deliveries between 2027 and 2029 and have secured 10 year charters for four of these vessels with a contribution to our contracted revenue backlog of approximately $236 million.
On the financing front, we recently completed a $500 million unsecured seven year bond offering with a 6.875% coupon. This is one of the most competitively priced deals ever achieved in the shipping industry for an unsecured bond with such tenor and is a testament of our superior credit quality. We intend to use the proceeds to redeem our 2028 $300 million bond as well as prepay in full some smaller secured bank credit facilities. We have already arranged secured debt financing for the majority of our newbuilding program and our fortress balance sheet that has been solidified with the recent bond issuance considerably enhances our capacity to pursue accretive investment opportunities that can propel the growth of Danaos into the next level.
Our solid performance has enabled us to continue to deliver strong, profitable performance, enhance our contract backlog and fund investments to reduce the age of our fleet and further cement Danaos’ leadership position in the container charter market. We also continue to opportunistically invest in the dry bulk Capesize market segment, where we expect outsized returns due to supply constraints and ton-mile demand increase.
Finally, I am pleased to announce that we are increasing our quarterly dividend to 90 cents per share, consistent with our policy of yearly increases, while also striving to continue to build long term value for the benefit of our shareholders“.
