Oslo, 4 July 2022 - MPC Container Ships ASA (âMPCCâ or the âCompanyâ, and
together with its subsidiaries, the âGroupâ) is pleased to announce the
following company update:
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· MPCC has contracted two carbon-neutral 1,300 TEU newbuildings at Chinese
-based shipyard Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering for delivery in the second half
of 2024.
· The vessels come with a dual fuel engine setup which enables operation on
methanol as well as conventional MGO, allowing MPCC to take a significant leap
forward in its commitment to use carbon-neutral solutions in regional container
trades together with strong partners.
· The vessels come with 15-year time charters to North Sea Container Line AS
(NCL), backed by CoAs from various parties, including a 15-year CoA with
Norwegian industrial group Elkem ASA.
· The contract price of USD 39m per vessel is covered by the contracted cash
flows from the 15-year time charter with NCL at an initial rate of EUR
~16,300/day, before inflationary adjustment mechanisms.
· The transaction will provide earnings visibility into 2040 supporting MPCCâs
distribution policy, with no negative impact on expected distributions in
2022/2023.
· The project has been awarded NOK 13.7 million by Enova, owned by the
Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, and NOK 60 million from the NOx
fund, the Norwegian business sectorâs fund to reduce emissions.
· The vessel owning entities will be majority owned by MPCC (90.1%) together
with Topeka MPC Maritime AS (9.9%), a joint venture between Topeka Holding AS
(zero emission shipping company owned by Wilhelmsen Group) and MPC Capital AG.
CEO Constantin Baack comments in relation to the announcement: "I am excited to
announce the order of two carbon-neutral newbuildings with long-term time
charters. Together with our partners NCL and Elkem, this project allows us to
set up a green transportation corridor in Northern Europe, proving our ability
to identify and execute on opportunities that are accretive whilst allowing us
to make the right move towards a further decarbonisation of the fleet. It also
demonstrates that we can meet ambitious environmental goals by joining forces
with like-minded partners and we are looking forward to facilitating a green
container shipping supply chain along the Norwegian coastline.
We believe that regional container trades with their specific features such as
predictable trading profiles and manageable investments in fuel infrastructure
will likely become the first truly green shipping trades.
With this project we continue to execute our selective growth strategy whilst
mitigating residual value risk and renewing our fleet. The economics of this
deal will support MPCCâs distribution potential from 2024 onwards.
With the most recent USD 71m dividend payment, MPCC has YTD 2022 distributed a
total of USD 271m to its shareholders, emphasizing our strong commitment to
returning capital to investors, which will remain our key priority going
forward."
This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU
Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to disclosure requirements pursuant to
section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
This stock exchange announcement was published by Andreas Nguyen, Investor
Relations at MPC Container Ships ASA, on 4 July 2022 at 08:30 CEST.
Further information and contact:
For further information, please contact ir@mpc-container.com.
About MPC Container Ships ASA:
MPC Container Ships ASA (ticker code âMPCCâ) is a leading container tonnage
provider with a focus on small to mid-size containerships. Its main activity is
to own and operate a portfolio of container ships serving intra-regional trade
lanes on fixed-rate charters. The Company is registered and has its business
office in Oslo, Norway. For more information, please see our website: www.mpc
-container.com.
Forward-looking statements:
This announcement includes forward-looking statements. Such statements are
generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about
the Companyâs plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its
business, the markets in which it operates and its restructuring efforts. These
statements are made based upon managementâs current plans, expectations,
assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and
therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news
release. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. When
considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risks
described from time to time in the Companyâs regulatory filings and periodical
reporting. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such
statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New
factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to
predict all of these factors. Further, the Company cannot assess the impact of
each such factor on its business or the extent to which any factor, or
combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from
those contained in any forward-looking statement.
Kilde