The South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview quoted president and ceo Chen Bing as saying that one area of investment for Seaspan would be in the use of cloud computing, as the company makes greater use of digitalisation to better capture and manage data to improve vessel performance and reduce operating costs.
With a current fleet of 112 vessels with a combined capacity of 900,000 teu, there would also of course be a possibility of expansion with the new capital although Chen did not comment on any newbuilding or acquisition plans.
Read More: Seaspan eyes consolidator role in containership sector as it acquires GCI for $380m
China’s massive global trade will benefit Seaspan Chen said, as it continues working with major client COSCO. “We see a lot of growth opportunities such as from our biggest customer COSCO, which is at the forefront of carrying out China’s historical mission in making investment,” said Chen citing in particular the Asian giant’s Belt and Road initiative which follows and builds upon the traditional Silk Road trading routes.
He pointed out that the estimated $1trn in trade last year between China and the so-called Belt and Road economies outweighs the $640bn in bilateral trade between the US and China and as such China’s economy is “well hedged” against any risks of a trade war.
Chen further noted that growth is especially coming from north-south trade and there are also “pockets of regional trade” emanating from Belt and Road-linked markets in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, South Africa.
Fairfax’s investment of an additional $500m of equity through exercising two tranches of warrants, which comes after an earlier $500m investment through the purchase of Seaspan’s debentures means that its main shareholder Prem Watsa takes over the Washington family as the leasing company’s largest shareholder.
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