The shipping company Ship Finance International (SFL) is expanding its fleet with five new container ships. The newbuildings, which have LNG propulsion, are worth US$1bn.
The 16,800 TEU freighters have been contracted with the Chinese shipyard New Times Shipbuilding and are scheduled for delivery in 2028.
SFL pays US$200m per ship
Each of the five freighters will have a capacity of 16,800 TEU and cost around US$200m. The shipping company founded by John Fredriksen also announced that they will be state-of-the-art in terms of fuel efficiency and chartering optimisation. It has already been decided that the ships will be chartered to an undisclosed shipping company for ten years, with the option of a two-year extension.
Upon delivery, SFL will have a total of 11 LNG dual-fuel vessels. “This demonstrates our determination to further expand the focus of our investments on low-carbon ships,” said CEO Ole Hjertaker. “With the purchases and charter extensions agreed this year, we have increased our order book of fixed-rate charters by approximately US$1.75bn.”
SFL currently owns a fleet of over 70 vessels. Of these, 34 are container ships that are under charter to major shipping companies such as MSC, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd on long-term contracts.
