During the second quarter of 2016, the Athens-based containership owner Costamare Inc. secured USD 88 million of new financing for its first two 11,000 TEU newbuildings on order as it entered into a loan agreement with a European financial institution.

The loan, which was signed in June 2016, will be payable in five years.

The company said that the proceeds are expected to finance the remaining yard installments for each of the two vessels.

Costamare Secures Financing for Two New Boxships

Container ship MSC Athos - Image: Hannes van Rijn

Furthermore, Costamare entered into new debt transactions financing debt free and refinancing existing assets “at competitive terms.”

In July, the company finalized the re-financing of its credit facility secured with the 2013-built 8,827 TEU MSC Athens and MSC Athos containerships as collateral, with a Chinese financial institution. The new financing, which is for a total of approximately USD 152 million, is under the structure of a sale and leaseback transaction.

The quarter also saw the company expand its fleet with the first two out of the five 14,000 TEU vessels, Triton and Titan, which have commenced their 10-year time charters with Taiwanese container line Evergreen.

Costamare’s net income for the second quarter stood at USD 37 million, down from USD 44.3 million seen in the same quarter a year earlier, while the half year net income increased to USD 72 million for the first half of 2016, compared to USD 70 million recorded in the first half of 2015.

“In a challenging market environment our main goal is to preserve liquidity and strengthen our balance sheet. Going forward, the Board will continue reviewing our dividend policy based on market conditions and our liquidity requirements,” Gregory Zikos, Chief Financial Officer of Costamare Inc., said.

Source: WorldMaritimeNews