Contships reaches 50 acquisitions mark with Vega container ship

April 18, 2022

Nikolas D. Pateras, Chairman and CEO, Contships Management

Contships was established in 2015 in Athens by Nikolas D. Pateras, Chairman and CEO.
The Pateras family history in shipping dates back to 1870. Mr Pateras has owned and operated over 200 vessels.

Contships has invested exclusively since 2015, in acquiring 47 container feeder vessels between 700 TEU and 1500 TEU becoming one of the leading providers for container charterers worldwide.

Contships sold during 2020-2021 eight container feeders, 4 x 700 TEU, 2 X 970 TEU and 2 x 1100 TEU.

The current value of our investment in the container feeder sector in Q4, 2021, stands at U$ 740 million.

The latest vessel to join the Greek owner’s fleet is the 1,118-teu Vega Sachsen (built 2008), according to ship management sources. Brokers reported it as sold earlier this month by Germany’s Vega Reederei at an undisclosed price. VesselsValue puts a $24.4m charter-free price tag on the Chinese-built vessel.

The actual transaction price could include recognition of the vessel’s existing time charter to Cosco, which runs until April 2023 at $15,500 per day.

Hamburg-based Vega is known to be selling ships, most likely to boost its liquidity before delivery of a quartet of 1,868-teu newbuildings it ordered in May at China’s Yangfan Group. Including the Vega Sachsen, Vega has been the source of Contships’ last four acquisitions.

Contships is the world’s largest independent owner of vessels with a capacity between 900 teu and 1,500 teu. The acquisition of the Vega Sachsen brings its fleet to 42 such vessels.