Good news: Contships inks CMA GM charter extensions, moves to slash bank debt

Major container feeder vessels firm Contships Logistics Corp. has agreed to extend its charters with the Marseille-based container shipping line CMA CGM for two vessels, the 1,256 TEU Contship Ace and the 1,072 TEU Contship Zen, for a term of 21 to 24 months. The gross daily charter rates are $16,500 and $15,500, respectively.

Greek owner Nikolas Pateras, who sees his fleet expanding to 35 vessels, expects these charter extensions to contribute around $22m to the company’s revenue backlog, which will increase to $209m as of October 1, 2025.

The boxship owner, who is bolstering Contships’ role as one of the world’s biggest independent owners of feeder container ships, announced also on Tuesday, Oct. 7 that the company will voluntarily prepay within October 2025 approximately $102.0m across its existing loan facilities with Alpha Bank S.A., CrediaBank S.A., Eurobank S.A., National Bank of Greece S.A., and Piraeus Bank S.A.

Following these prepayments, the company says the outstanding secured bank debt will be reduced from $116.5m to $14.5m. The total outstanding unsecured bonds due 2030 will remain at $175.0m, whilst