Athens-based owner Euroseas has revealed lucrative charters for the first two in a series of feeder container vessels under construction in South Korea.
The Nasdaq-listed owner said an unnamed line is taking the fuel-efficient, 2,800-teu Gregos and Terataki for between 36 and 40 months at a strong $48,000 per day.
The deals will tie up the vessels, currently under construction at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, into 2026.
The ships are set for delivery in March and June next year.
Euroseas chief executive Aristides said the charters for the boxships will contribute more than $85m of Ebitda over the terms.
This will fully repay the cost of building them in “just about three years”, he added.
The fleet coverage for 2023 now stands at 76%, and at 55% for 2024.
Euroseas has seven more newbuildings in the series remaining to be fixed.
They will be delivered in 2023 and 2024.
The charter news comes days after Euroseas exercised two options for ships eight and nine in the series.
Cost slightly higher
Euroseas is paying $43m per vessel, only slightly more than it agreed to pay for two identical vessels booked four months ago.
The owner has also revealed it has spent $11m to upgrade the environmental features of the vessels.
Instead of complying with the International Maritime Organization’s older Tier II standards for nitrogen oxide emissions, they will now comply with Tier III and will be LNG-ready.
The Greek company said it will finance the latest two newbuildings with a combination of debt and equity.
The company has 18 container vessels operational.
