Israel’s Zim said on Friday it signed a deal with Seaspan to take on charter ten 15,000 TEU LNG-powered container vessels to serve its Asia-US East Coast trade.
Seaspan, a unit of Atlas Corp, placed the order for the dual-fuel ships at South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries.
Moreover, the Korean yard will start delivering the ultra-large LNG-powered vessels in the first half of 2023 after they will go on a 12-year charter with Zim.
LNG Prime was the first to report this development last week revealing that Zim has set its sight on 15,000 TEU LNG-powered containerships in order to comply with the new IMO rules and slash emissions.
ZIM chief Eli Glickman said this “milestone agreement” for the firm has a value in excess of one billion dollars.
In addition, he said the new vessels would allow the firm to meet growing market demand on the Asia-US East Coast trade but also help address environmental issues related to the industry and reduce the firm’s carbon footprint.
On the other hand, this also marks the first LNG-powered investment for Hong Kong-based Seaspan that plans to finance the vessels from additional borrowings as well as cash on hand.
Seaspan CEO Bing Chen said the company looks forward to the partnership with ZIM.
“This transaction signifies both ZIM’s and Seaspan’s commitment to ESG principles, carbon reduction, and resolve to contribute to a greener business community in the future,” Chen said.