Hong-Kong based containership owner Seaspan has signed a secured term loan facility for up to $120m to finance two 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels.

The ships are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of this year.

Following delivery, the ships will be part of Greater China Intermodal Investments (GCI), which was acquired by Seaspan in March this year.

GCI currently operates a fleet of 16 vessels, which were added to Seaspan’s fleet after the acquisition.

Acquisition of GCI, along with other purchases, has enabled Seaspan to increase its operating fleet from 89 at the beginning of this year to a total of 108 vessels at the end of March this year.

Seaspan’s current vessel fleet comprises 112 containerships representing a total capacity of over 900,000 TEUs, including four newbuildings on order and are scheduled for delivery within this year.

“The GCI acquisition provided an opportunity for Seaspan to expand its partnership with Fairfax and other financing partners.”

Seaspan president and CEO Bing Chen said: “The completion of the GCI acquisition during the first quarter solidified our industry-leading position and achieved a number of important strategic objectives for the company while being accretive to earnings per share.

“On the strategic side, the acquisition of GCI improved our fleet composition as we increased our exposure to larger, more modern containerships that are in demand by our customers.

“In addition, we expanded our relationships with our customers, significantly increasing our contracted future revenue and EBITDA.

“Finally, the GCI acquisition provided an opportunity for Seaspan to expand its partnership with Fairfax and other financing partners, reinforcing the strength of our integrated platform.”

Seaspan, which primarily serves the shipping companies with outsourcing alternatives to vessel ownership, reported total revenues of $224.8m for the quarter ended 31 March 2018.