MPCC moves up in size with $340m boxship buy
The Oslo-listed tonnage provider buys four 7,000 teu ships, steps up its size class, and sheds two older units.
Oslo-listed tonnage provider MPC Container Ships has agreed to buy four 7,000 teu containerships for $340m, pushing the company into a larger vessel segment.
The 2023- and 2024-built eco-conventional ships are being acquired from an unrelated third party, each carrying a three-year fixed-rate charter to a top-five liner — together expected to generate $180m in revenue and about $140m in EBITDA. Delivery is due in October and November. The deal is a clear step up for MPCC, whose 51-ship fleet currently tops out at a pair of 2022-built 5,500 teu units.
The Constantin Baack-led company has also fixed forward charters for the 2,578 teu AS Pamela and the 2,200 teu AS Anne, for 24-27 months and 30-32 months respectively, with delivery into the new charters slated for the second quarter of 2027 and the fourth quarter of 2026.
At the same time, MPCC is selling two older, non-strategic vessels: the 2012-built 1,740 teu AS Selina has gone for $24m, with handover after its current charter ends between late 2026 and early 2027, while the 2007-built 2,130 teu AS Angelina — approaching its 20-year class renewal next year — has been sold for $17m, with handover expected in the third quarter of 2026.
The moves lift MPCC's contracted revenue backlog to $2.2bn, with charter cover at 99% for 2026, 74% for 2027 and 48% for 2028. In parallel, the company has secured a $375m senior secured term loan underwritten by Societe Generale to finance 10 of the 16 newbuildings ordered last year, with BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, ING and KfW IPEX-Bank also in the lending group. Splash reported in December that MPCC had ordered six 3,700 teu feeder containerships at Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering, backed by long-term employment, adding to earlier orders for 4,500 teu and 1,600 teu ships in China.
