Six Ultramax, One Financing Play as Seacon Rewrites Its 2027 Bulk Pipeline
Seacon Shipping is taking over six ultramax newbuilding contracts and pairing them with long-term leaseback financing, effectively locking in a 2027 delivery window while spreading payments over a 15-year bareboat structure. The deal is a clean example of how owners are using resale paper plus leasing to control fleet growth without carrying the full cash burden upfront.
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Seacon’s six ultramax leaseback deal in one read
Seacon is taking over six ultramax newbuilding contracts and pairing them with long-term sale-and-leaseback financing, locking in a defined 2027 delivery stream while spreading cash outflows across a 180-month bareboat structure. The package combines fleet growth, a predictable delivery calendar, and a financing profile that remains sensitive to interest rates.
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Six-ship block, 2027 deliveries
Six 63,800 dwt bulkers with deliveries scheduled from 30 January 2027 to 30 November 2027, based on the disclosed timeline. -
Cost and funding shape
Disclosed shipbuilding consideration totals US$198.6m, while leaseback sale proceeds are US$28.135m per ship. The simplified gap between the two numbers is part of the equity and gap funding picture before timing and fees. -
Hire profile and rate linkage
Bareboat hire combines a fixed component and a floating component priced at a 1.85% margin plus a 3-month SOFR reference, plus an end-of-term US$11.0m balloon per vessel. -
End-game mechanics
Purchase options exist during the lease, with an obligation to buy at the end, turning the structure into long-dated fleet financing with commercial control retained through the bareboat charter.
This is a fleet-growth play that trades upfront cash pressure for long-term payment discipline. For stakeholders, the key variables to watch are 2027 delivery execution, charter coverage and utilization through cycle swings, and how the floating-rate hire behaves if rates move higher or stay elevated.
Dry bulk • Newbuild resale takeover • Sale and leaseback
Seacon locks in six ultramax deliveries and funds them with 15-year leasebacks
The company assumed six shipbuilding contracts at nil transfer consideration and then matched each hull with a dedicated sale and bareboat leaseback. The combination adds controlled tonnage for 2027 while turning a large share of the build cost into scheduled lease-style payments.
Ships
6 ultramax bulkers (63,800 dwt)
Shipbuilding price
$198.6m total ($33.1m each)
Leaseback sale price
$28.135m per vessel
Delivery window
30 Jan 2027 to 30 Nov 2027
| Seacon: six ultramax shipbuilding takeovers paired with 180-month bareboat leasebacks | |||
| Item | Summary | Business mechanics | Bottom-line effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract takeover | Rights and obligations under the six shipbuilding contracts were transferred to Seacon Shipping at nil consideration because the prior buyer had not paid any instalments. | Novation preserves the underlying build contracts and delivery schedule while resetting the buyer position to Seacon. | Faster fleet growth than starting fresh with new yard slots, with execution risk concentrated in 2027 delivery performance. |
| Shipbuilding payments | $33.1m per vessel paid in four instalments: $6.62m (after refund guarantee), $3.31m (after first steel cutting), $3.31m (after keel laying), and $19.86m on delivery. | Milestone payments are aligned to yard progress and refund guarantees, limiting early-stage credit exposure relative to a large up-front structure. | Improves visibility on near-term cash calls, but concentrates the largest payment at delivery, where timing slips can shift working capital needs. |
| Leaseback structure | Each vessel is sold to a leasing owner for $28.135m and chartered back on bareboat for 180 months from delivery, supported by a corporate guarantee. | Sale proceeds are staged in four instalments that mirror build milestones, creating a “build-funded” financing track rather than waiting for delivery-only funding. | Reduces refinancing pressure at delivery, while committing the fleet to long-tenor obligations across the next cycle. |
| Lease payments | Hire combines: pre-delivery interest on amounts advanced, a fixed amount each post-delivery hire period, a floating interest component on the owner’s cost, and a $11.0m balloon at end of term. | Fixed hire provides a stable base. Variable hire passes interest-rate moves through to cash cost via SOFR plus margin, with principal effectively crystallized in the balloon. | Predictable operating cadence with embedded rate exposure. The floating component can widen or tighten cost versus peers depending on the rate cycle. |
| Security package | Security documents include assignment of earnings and insurance rights, share charges over charterer SPVs, and pre-delivery assignments tied to the shipbuilding contracts. | The lessor’s downside is protected through SPV-level controls and cashflow capture rights typical of leasing documentation. | Tighter covenant-style framework can reduce financial flexibility, but may lower financing friction compared with unsecured borrowing. |
| Source note: Deal terms summarized from the company’s Hong Kong exchange filing describing the novation of six shipbuilding contracts and the finance lease arrangements dated 26 December 2025. | |||
How the cash moves from yard to fleet control
Lease payment shape (illustrative, single vessel)
A simple view of the post-delivery hire mix: fixed hire is constant per hire period, while variable hire rises or falls with the rate environment because it is calculated on the owner’s cost at SOFR plus margin.
Fixed hire per hire period
$285,583.33
Variable hire estimate (owner’s cost at start)
$0
All-in hire estimate
$0
End-of-term balloon
$11,000,000
Price stack, shown simply
The shipbuilding contract value per vessel is higher than the leaseback sale price per vessel, which implies an additional funding layer outside the leaseback proceeds.
Stakeholder watchlist
Seacon’s move bundles a resale takeover, a defined 2027 delivery program, and a 15-year leaseback structure into one package. The immediate story is fleet growth with managed cash timing, while the longer story is how the bareboat obligations, floating-rate exposure, and end-of-term buyback mechanics will perform across the next dry bulk cycle.
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