Seaspan strengthens Asia ties
When Li Kelin, head of the state-owned China Shipping Group, was considering expanding the company's container line business in 1999, he discussed the issue with Gerry Wang, a former executive at Beijing-backed conglomerate China Merchants Group and a long-time friend.
Mr Li told Mr Wang about his dilemma: he wanted to grow the operation but would need government approvals for capital expenditure to buy container ships. In China, getting such approvals could be a cumbersome process.
Mr Wang - now chief executive of Seaspan but then running ship-brokering operations for the ???-Vancouver-based tug and barge company owned by Dennis Washington, a US businessman - devised a solution.
"I said to him, 'You don't need to worry. I will buythe ships and lease themto you'," says Mr Wang,who went on to establish Seaspan's ship owning and leasing business in order to supply vessels to ChinaShipping. The business, which charters vessels to container shipping companies under long-term contracts, has since grown rapidly on the back of China's booming trade. It was spun off on the New York Stock Exchange last year in one of the US's biggest shippinginitial ???-public offerings, raising $750m.
In less than seven years, Seaspan has built a fleet of 15 vessels, with 14 more to be delivered in the next 18 months.
Two weeks ago, the company announced it would build four ships in China in its first contract with a Chinese shipbuilder, Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding. All four ships will be leased to China Shipping. Seaspan has an option to buy an additional eight vessels.
"China is critical to the world's containerisation. Our major clients are Chinese companies. Growth is our buzzword," says Mr Wang, whose company is also courting Cosco Container Lines, the world's ninth largest shipping liner company, as a client.
According to Seaspan, China accounts for more than half of global container movement, which is expected to grow at least10 per cent per annum in terms of tonnage over the next five years.
More shipping companies also now prefer leasing vessels to owning them, benefiting companies such asSeaspan. On the other hand, the containership charter market is already highly competitive and Seaspan currently relies on only three clients, including Canada-based CP Ships, which raises concerns that its business model is too risky.
"What we have is just a credit risk. No matter how well or how badly our clients are doing, as long as they pay us we are fine," saysMr Wang.
Nonetheless, he says, the company would like to grow its client base and is in talks with ship liners including Hong Kong's Orient Overseas (International), Taiwan's Evergreen Marine and Japan's NYK Line.
Seaspan plans to add 10 to 15 ships every year, expanding its fleet to about 100 vessels in five to six years. Following its contract with Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Seaspan, which previously had all its vessels built by Samsung in Korea, says many of the new ships will now be built in China.
"Shipbuilding in China is improving at a very fast pace. It is also cheap. It's logical we are going to build more ships there in the future," says Mr Wang.
买船不如租船
1999
年，当国有的中国海运集团(China Shipping)总裁李克麟考虑拓展集装箱运输业务时，他与曾在香港招商局集团(China Merchants Group)供职的老朋友王友贵(Gerry Wang) 讨论了这一问题。
李克麟向王友贵讲述了他面临的两难境地：他希望拓展业务，但购买集装箱货轮的资本支出需要获得政府批准。在中国，获得此类批准要经过繁琐的程序。
当时正在温哥华拖驳船公司西斯班(Seaspan)主管船舶经纪的王友贵想出了一个解决方法。西斯班归美国商人丹尼斯?华盛顿(Dennis Washington)所有。
王友贵说：“我告诉他：‘你不用担心。我来买船，然后把它们租给你。’”王友贵随后组建了西斯班公司的船东和租船业务，向中海集团提供船舶。这项业务的运作方式，就是按长期合同向集装箱航运公司出租船舶。随着中国贸易的蓬勃发展，这块业务迅速壮大，并于去年在纽约证交所(NYSE)分拆上市，融资7.5亿美元，成为美国规模最大的航运业首次公开发行(IPO)之一。
在不到7年的时间里，西斯班公司已建立起一个拥有15艘船舶的船队，并计划在未来18个月里增加14艘船舶。
两周前，该公司宣布首次与中国船舶制造商签订造船合同，江苏扬子江造船有限公司(Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding)将为其建造4艘船舶。这4艘船舶将全部租给中海集团。西斯班公司还有追加购买8艘船舶的选择权。
王友贵说：“中国对于全球集装箱运输行业至关重要。我们主要的客户是中国企业。增长是我们的常用词。” 西斯班公司也在争取使中远集装箱运输有限公司(Cosco Container Lines)成为自己的客户。后者是全球第9大海运公司。
西斯班公司的数据显示，在全球集装箱运输总量中，中国所占份额超过一半。未来5年内，预计全球集装箱运输吨位每年至少将增长10%。
现在，越来越多的航运公司选择租船，而非自己做船东，这对西斯班这样的公司有利。但另一方面，集装箱船舶租赁市场的竞争已经极其激烈，而西斯班公司目前仅仅依赖3家客户，包括加拿大太平洋航运公司(CP Ships)。这种状况引致不少担忧，认为西斯班公司的业务模式过于冒险。
王友贵说：“我们面对的只是信用风险。不管客户经营好坏，只要他们付给我们钱，我们就没问题。”
虽然如此，他表示，公司还是有意扩大用户基础，并正与一些航运公司进行洽谈，包括香港的东方海外(Orient Overseas International)、台湾的长荣海运(Evergreen Marine)以及日本邮船(NYK Line)。
西斯班公司计划每年增加10至15艘船舶，在五、六年内，将其船队扩充至100艘左右。西斯班公司表示，自与江苏扬子江造船公司签订造船合同之后，许多新船将在中国建造。以前，该公司所有船舶都由韩国三星(Samsung)建造。
王友贵说：“中国的造船水平有了迅速提高，价格也很便宜，所以，我们打算以后在那里建造更多船舶。”
