German Ship Owners to Rescue CSAV

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 May 2009

A group of German charter container ship-owners agreed to a $710 million rescue for CSAV, the financially troubled Chilean ocean carrier. The 20-odd owners which have ships on charter to CSAV agreed to a phased capital injection for the world's 16th largest carrier after nearly two months of negotiations in Hamburg.
CSAV said an initial $130 million cash infusion is already underway "and we expect to conclude this first capital increase in June."
A second capital increase of $220 million will take place later, followed by a final installment of $360 million.
The German ship-owners "have committed their participation to guarantee a 100 percent subscription of a third capital increase," CSAV chief executive Juan Antonio Alvarez said in a statement.
Alvarez said he expects other ship owners to co-operate with CSAV's financial restructuring but this "will be dealt [with] separately."
Vancouver-based Seaspan has ordered four 4,250 TEUs ships due to be chartered to CSAV for six years.
CSAV embarked on an ambitious expansion program over recent years, including the acquisition of Norasia, a carrier on the Asia-Europe route. It also took over a contract from German owner Peter Dohle for four 12,600 TEUs vessels under construction in South Korea for a reported $640 million. It has agreed to charter four similar sized vessels.
The Santiago-based carrier, which lost $266 million in the first quarter, has been pressing ship-owners to slash charter rates by up to 30 percent, fuelling fears of a domino effect across the box ship charter market.
CSAV, which posted revenue of nearly $5 billion in 2008, is a major player in the charter market, with 80 ships of 246,765 TEUs on hire, compared with an owned fleet of just seven vessels of 35,031 TEUs, according to AXS-Alphaliner, the Paris-based consultant.
Most ocean carriers have negotiated cuts in charter rates on a case-by-case basis, but CSAV is the first line to seek across-the-board discounts for an entire fleet.
CSAV has 20 ships of 169,668 TEUs on order, equivalent to just over 60 percent of its current fleet. It is currently in negotiations with shipyards over delaying or cancelling some orders, including the 12,600 TEUs vessels.

Source: Journal of Commerce