Background

Print page | Email page

Seaspan Corporation was established in the Marshall Islands in the spring of 2005 and completed a successful initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on August 8, 2005. At the time of our IPO, we owned 10 modern container vessels and had contracted to purchase another 13 ships as the vessels were completed. All of these vessels were contracted from Samsung Heavy Industries in Korea by our predecessor companies. Nineteen were exact sister ships capable of carrying 4250 TEU while the remaining four consisted of two 8500 TEU vessels and two 9600 TEU vessels with very similar design and equipment as the 4250 TEU vessels. Each of these ships was chartered at a fixed rate for a minimum of 10 years from its delivery date.

During 2006, we ordered an additional 14 newbuilding vessels at shipyards in China and Korea for delivery between 2007 and 2009. Included in these orders were two 3500 TEU vessels, eight 2500 TEU vessels and four 5100 TEU vessels. Each of these ships was chartered for 12 years from their delivery dates.

In the last quarter of 2006, we purchased four secondhand vessels from A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S and chartered them back to the seller for five years with four years of extension options in the favor of the charterer.

We completed a follow-on offering of our common shares on November 8, 2006.

Our operations are managed under a long-term management agreement by Seaspan Management Services Limited, a company owned directly, or indirectly, by trusts established for members of the Dennis Washington family and entities owned by Gerry Wang and Graham Porter. Our manager and its affiliates provide us with technical, administrative and strategic services.

The Washington family, Gerry Wang and Graham Porter were the founders of our predecessor companies. Starting in 1999, these companies ordered 23 containerships from Samsung that were purchased by Seaspan Corporation in 2005.