Container shipping company Seaspan Corp has a 'good chance' of meeting its fleet target of 100 vessels by 2010 thanks to global trade in consumer goods, in particular between Asia and Europe, the company's top executive said on Tuesday.
'I am pretty confident that we will see some deals finalised' to buy more vessels, chief executive Gerry Wang told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Seaspan has 29 container ships in the water and 34 on order, giving a total fleet on paper of 63 vessels. Mr Wang said in January that Seaspan wanted to have 100 ships within five years. On Sept 10, the company ordered eight large container ships in a deal worth nearly US$1.5 billion.
Chief financial officer Sai Chu said growth elsewhere had offset the cut in growth of container shipping traffic to the US market caused by the housing slowdown there and its effect on the construction and furniture industries. 'There's been a real shift in growth from the Asia to North America route to the Asia to Europe route.'
China is where most container shipments originate, as the rapidly developing and growing economy exports vast quantities of consumer goods - from shoes to television sets - and unfinished goods to Western markets, though Mr Wang said demand has also been growing in Russia and South America.
The shift away from the North America route requires having larger fleets in the water because the ships have further to travel to Europe.
And with oil within sight of US$100 a barrel, Seaspan's customers are hauling goods more slowly to conserve fuel - again meaning more ships are needed in the water.
Seaspan leases its ships out on long-term contracts to major shipping companies. Its customers pay their own fuel costs directly.
Mr Wang said that, partly as a result of the credit crunch, Seaspan has been 'looking more to the East for funding'.
Three of the five mandated lead arrangers on a new US$920 million credit facility Seaspan announced on Aug 9 were Asian - the Export-Import Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.
'Those (Asian) markets are more insulated from the problems caused by the sub-prime crisis than the Western markets,' Mr Wang said.
'We'll just have to hope now that the global economy will be able to lift the US economy out of the sub-prime housing situation,' he added
'I am pretty confident that we will see some deals finalised' to buy more vessels, chief executive Gerry Wang told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Seaspan has 29 container ships in the water and 34 on order, giving a total fleet on paper of 63 vessels. Mr Wang said in January that Seaspan wanted to have 100 ships within five years. On Sept 10, the company ordered eight large container ships in a deal worth nearly US$1.5 billion.
Chief financial officer Sai Chu said growth elsewhere had offset the cut in growth of container shipping traffic to the US market caused by the housing slowdown there and its effect on the construction and furniture industries. 'There's been a real shift in growth from the Asia to North America route to the Asia to Europe route.'
China is where most container shipments originate, as the rapidly developing and growing economy exports vast quantities of consumer goods - from shoes to television sets - and unfinished goods to Western markets, though Mr Wang said demand has also been growing in Russia and South America.
The shift away from the North America route requires having larger fleets in the water because the ships have further to travel to Europe.
And with oil within sight of US$100 a barrel, Seaspan's customers are hauling goods more slowly to conserve fuel - again meaning more ships are needed in the water.
Seaspan leases its ships out on long-term contracts to major shipping companies. Its customers pay their own fuel costs directly.
Mr Wang said that, partly as a result of the credit crunch, Seaspan has been 'looking more to the East for funding'.
Three of the five mandated lead arrangers on a new US$920 million credit facility Seaspan announced on Aug 9 were Asian - the Export-Import Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd and Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.
'Those (Asian) markets are more insulated from the problems caused by the sub-prime crisis than the Western markets,' Mr Wang said.
'We'll just have to hope now that the global economy will be able to lift the US economy out of the sub-prime housing situation,' he added