Danaos Corporation, one of the world’s largest independent owners of container vessels and drybulk vessels, reported unaudited results for the period ended September 30, 2025.
Highlights for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2025 and up to date of this release:
- In September 2025, we added two 7,165 TEU newbuilding containership vessels to our orderbook with expected delivery in 2027. We have arranged 5 year charters for both of these vessels and have added approximately $140 million to our contracted revenue backlog.
- In November 2025, we added six 1,800 TEU newbuilding containerships to our orderbook with expected deliveries from 2027 through 2029. We have arranged 10 year charters for four out of these six vessels and have added approximately $236 million to our contracted revenue backlog.
- In November 2025 we took delivery of one 6,014 TEU containership as per schedule, that is added to prior deliveries under our newbuilding container vessels program of six newbuilding containerships in 2024 and one in January 2025.
- Our orderbook currently consists of 23 newbuilding containership vessels with an aggregate capacity of 153,350 TEU with expected deliveries of three vessels in 2026, thirteen vessels in 2027, six vessels in 2028 and one vessel in 2029. All vessels in our orderbook are designed with the latest eco characteristics and will be built in accordance with the latest requirements of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in relation to Tier III emission standards and Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) Phase III.
- On October 17, 2025, we entered into a Memorandum Agreement to purchase a Capesize dry bulk vessel, which is expected to be delivered to us towards the end of the first quarter of 2026.
- We have secured multi-year charter arrangements for 21 out of 23 vessels in our newbuilding orderbook, with an average charter duration of approximately 5.8 years, weighted by aggregate contracted charter hire .
- Since the date of our previous earnings release, we have added approximately $745 million to our contracted revenue backlog through a combination of the prior mentioned six new charters for our recently ordered containership newbuilding vessels and charter extensions for 12 of our existing container vessels.
- As a result, total contracted cash operating revenues, based on concluded charter contracts through the date of this release, currently stand at $4.1 billion, including newbuildings. The remaining average contracted charter duration for our containership fleet is 4.3 years, weighted by aggregate contracted charter hire.
- Contracted operating days charter coverage for our container vessel fleet is currently 100.0% for 2025, 95% for 2026 and 71% for 2027. This includes newbuildings based on their scheduled delivery dates.
- As of the date of this release, Danaos has repurchased a total of 3,022,527 shares of its common stock in the open market for $213.6 million under its $300.0 million authorized share repurchase program, that was originally introduced in June 2022 and was upsized twice in $100.0 million increments, in November 2023 and in April 2025.
- On October 16, 2025, we consummated the pricing of the offering of $500.0 million of 6.875% senior unsecured notes due in 2032. Danaos intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to (i) early redeem in full the $262.8 million outstanding principal amount of our 8.5% Senior Notes due 2028 on or about March 1, 2026, (ii) repay in full the outstanding principal amount under its BNP Paribas/Credit Agricole $130.0 million Secured Credit Facility on December 1, 2025, (iii) repay in full the outstanding principal amount under its Alpha Bank $55.25 million Secured Credit Facility on December 1, 2025, (iv) to pay costs, fees and expenses related to the refinancing, including commissions, placement, financial advisory fees and other transaction costs and professional fees, and (v) for general corporate purposes.
- Danaos has declared a dividend of $0.90 per share of common stock for the third quarter of 2025. The dividend is payable on December 11, 2025, to stockholders of record as of December 2, 2025.
Danaos’ CEO Dr. John Coustas commented:
“As we enter the final months of the year, operating conditions remain broadly unchanged. The war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight, and while the conflict in the Middle East is in the process of resolution, transit through the Red Sea has not yet resumed and liners are waiting for more permanent signs of stability to restart the transit.
The recent de-escalation in trade and tariff tensions between the United States and China enabled trade to resume unhindered, while the redirection of Chinese exports to the EU and other countries kept trading and container traffic at an all times high during the third quarter of the year. The charter market remains robust, and the idle fleet remains at all-time low. Demand for mid-size and larger vessels continues unabated, and we have secured new charters for vessels opening as far out as the beginning of 2028. Shipyard slots for 2028 deliveries are becoming scarce and newbuilding prices continue to rise. We have selectively extended our newbuilding program at below market prices and we have already secured multi-year employment for these new orders. Following the IMO’s one-year postponement of its Net-Zero Framework, we expect conventional fuels to remain prevalent in the medium term, even as the long-term decarbonization trajectory is unchanged.
In relation to our newbuilding program, we recently added six 1,800 TEU vessels to our orderbook with scheduled deliveries between 2027 and 2029 and have secured 10 year charters for four of these vessels with a contribution to our contracted revenue backlog of approximately $236 million.
On the financing front, we recently completed a $500 million unsecured seven year bond offering with a 6.875% coupon. This is one of the most competitively priced deals ever achieved in the shipping industry for an unsecured bond with such tenor and is a testament of our superior credit quality. We intend to use the proceeds to redeem our 2028 $300 million bond as well as prepay in full some smaller secured bank credit facilities. We have already arranged secured debt financing for the majority of our newbuilding program and our fortress balance sheet that has been solidified with the recent bond issuance considerably enhances our capacity to pursue accretive investment opportunities that can propel the growth of Danaos into the next level.
Our solid performance has enabled us to continue to deliver strong, profitable performance, enhance our contract backlog and fund investments to reduce the age of our fleet and further cement Danaos’ leadership position in the container charter market. We also continue to opportunistically invest in the dry bulk Capesize market segment, where we expect outsized returns due to supply constraints and ton-mile demand increase.
Finally, I am pleased to announce that we are increasing our quarterly dividend to 90 cents per share, consistent with our policy of yearly increases, while also striving to continue to build long term value for the benefit of our shareholders“.