Samudera Shipping buys two boxship newbuilds

Singapore’s Samudera Shipping Line has entered into agreements for the acquisition of two newbuild container vessels from an unnamed party.

The aggregate acquisition price is approximately $66 million, the company said.

The new ships have a capacity of 1,900 TEU each, and they are expected to be delivered in the 4th quarter of 2024 and early 2025 respectively.

The acquisition was described as “the ordinary course of business of the company” and it is not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share of the group for the financial year ended 31 December 2022.

Further details on the shipbuilder and vessel specifications were not disclosed.

The announcement is being made on the heels of Samudera’s stake purchase in LNG East-West Shipping Company (LNG EW) from Japanese shipping major Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK).

Samudera is already an existing shareholder of LNG EW with 25% shares, and upon completion of the agreement, the company’s shareholding interest in LNG EW shall increase to 50%. NYK will own the remaining 50%.

Samudera Shipping, which is primarily engaged in container shipping and bulk and tanker business segments, expects to record a significant improvement in revenue and earnings for the nine months of 2022 as compared to the same period last year, primarily due to an increase in container volume handled and higher freight rates in 2022.

As a result, the group performance for the full year is expected to be significantly better year-on-year as well.