Cosco Shipping to bareboat charter six heavy lift vessels

COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers (SSE:600428) has announced the approval of a bareboat charter agreement for six 60,000-ton multipurpose heavy lift vessels. The agreement, approved at the company's eighth board meeting, will see COSCO SHIPPING (Hong Kong) Investment and Development Co., Ltd. act as the leaseholder, chartering the vessels from project companies established by Bank of Communications Financial Leasing (交銀金租). The bareboat charter periods will range from a minimum of 189 months to a maximum of 195 months from the date of delivery for each vessel. The bareboat charter rate is approximately CNY 63,500 per day per vessel for the first four vessels and CNY 63,800 per day per vessel for the subsequent two vessels, resulting in annual lease payments of approximately CNY 13,928.4 million for all six vessels. The company says that this strategic move will optimize its fleet structure, improve overall profitability, and strengthen its ability to self-manage the leased vessels.