The move follows completion of the merger between Hapag-Lloyd and UASC in late May this year, creating the fifth largest liner shipping company with a fleet of 219 modern containerships of 1.6m teu capacity.
“Our fleet, one of the youngest and most modern in the industry with an average age of just 7.1 years, is now complete,” commented Hapag-Lloyd coo Anthony Firmin after the delivery. “We have no plans to order any more newbuilds in the foreseeable future.”
Like predecessor Afif delivered in July, Al Jmeliyah (‘beautiful one’ in Arabic), will operate on the FE4 service of THE Alliance between Asia and Northern Europe. The newbuild was part of a UASC order for 11 ships of 15,000 teu and six of 19,900 teu.
With its fleet expansion complete, Hapag-Lloyd will now carry out the capital increase agreed as part of the UASC merger. Some 11.7m new shares with subscription price of EUR30 will be issued, underwritten by primary shareholders CSAV Germany Container Holding GmbH, Kuehne Maritime GmbH, Qatar Holding Germany GmbH and the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The expected capital of EUR352m ($414m) raised will be used primarily for the repayment of debt as well as general corporate purposes.
“Following the successful merger with UASC, we will use the capital increase to strengthen our capital structure and to use the proceeds to reduce the leverage of the company,” said Hapag-Lloyd ceo Rolf Habben Jansen. “This enables us to focus on enhancing our strategic and operating objectives.”
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