Vancouver-based Seaspan Corporation has ordered four 4,250 TEU vessels at eastern China's Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding.

The New York-listed company's charter customer base consists of seven of the largest liner companies, including CSCL, Maersk, MOL, Hapag-Lloyd, Cosco, "K" Line and CSAV.

These are in addition to the ten 2,500-TEU vessels Seaspan has already ordered from Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a shipyard affiliated with Jiangsu.

The four newbuilds are to be delivered between March and September, 2009 at a cost of US$66.1 million per vessel.

Seaspan also announced that it has arranged simultaneous six-year charter agreements for these four vessels with Chile's Compania SudAmerica de Vapores (CSAV) at a rate of $25,925 per day. CSAV is the largest shipping company in South America and 16th biggest in the world by TEU capacity. Each new vessel is expected to contribute between $7.5 million and $7.9 million in profit a year.

"Adding the premier South American shipping line to our customer portfolio is another significant step in the geographic diversification of our customer portfolio," said Seaspan CEO Gerry Wang.

"While these time charters are shorter in duration than our typical charter parties for new vessels, the expiry dates in 2015 fit well into the balanced charter maturity profile of our fleet," he said.

Seaspan's 47 containerships consist of 26 existing vessels and 21 to be delivered over the next three years. The 21 vessels that Seaspan has contracted to purchase are already committed to long-term time charters averaging approximately 10.6 years in duration from delivery, said a company statement.