Seaspan orders scrubber-fitted newbuilds

Shipping firm Seaspan Corp. said September 27 it signed an agreement to take on another 10 newbuild containerships fitted with scrubbers to address emission concerns.

Seaspan, a subsidiary of global asset management company Atlas, ordered 10 containerships with a 7,000 TEU capacity. All of them will be fitted with scrubbers, an onboard system that filters out sulphur emissions from a ship’s exhaust.

Shippers are obligated to cut emissions order a protocol established by the International Maritime Organisation, dubbed IMO 2020, by using scrubbers or cleaner fuels such as liquefied natural gas.

Based in Hong Kong, Seaspan in February ordered 10 15,000 TEU LNG-fuelled containerships from Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard. Those are under charter to Israeli shipping company ZIM under 12-year contracts for trade between Asia and the US East Coast.

Seaspan since December 20 has ordered 70 newbuilds, of which 25 will run on LNG. The scrubber-fitted newbuilds are slated for deliveries beginning in the second quarter of 2024.