Construction of Seaspan’s ten LNG “green” boxships begins

The construction of the first of ten 15,000 TEU LNG-fuelled “green” containerships chartered by the Israeli shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) has begun.

According to the company’s update, the steel cutting ceremony for the ZIM Sammy Ofer was held last month at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in South Korea.

The vessels were ordered by Seaspan Corporation, a Hong Kong-based owner and operator of container vessels and a subsidiary of Atlas Corp, in early 2021 and will be chartered out to ZIM to serve the carrier’s Asia – US East Coast trade.

The deliveries of the containerships are anticipated to begin in the first half of 2023, afterwards starting the 12-year charters.

At the time, the companies separately announced a strategic agreement, valued in excess of $1 billion, for the long-term charter of the ten eco-friendly boxships.

According to Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO, this agreement, regarded as a milestone for ZIM, is expected to help the parties achieve two important strategic objectives.

“First, these … vessels will allow us to meet growing market demand on the Asia – US East Coast trade… Second, in line with our core sustainability values, investing in LNG-fueled ‘green’ vessels demonstrates our continued commitment … in addressing environmental issues related to our industry, meeting customer demand to reduce CO2 emissions, helping to preserve clean air and reducing our carbon footprint“, Glickman noted.

Back in July 2021, Seaspan and ZIM sealed a strategic agreement for the long-term charter of ten 7,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel boxships to serve across ZIM’s various global-niche trades.

Shortly after, the Israeli company exercised its option to long-term charter additional five 7,000 TEU LNG vessels from Seaspan Corporation. The deliveries of fifteen vessels in total are scheduled to begin in Q4 2023 and continue through 2024.