Danaos Corporation reports first quarter results for period ended March 31, 2025

Danaos Corporation, one of the world’s largest independent owners of container vessels and drybulk vessels, reported unaudited results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2025.

For management purposes, the Company is organized based on operating revenues generated from container vessels and dry-bulk vessels and has two reporting segments: (1) a container vessels segment and (2) a dry-bulk vessels segment. The Company measures segment performance based on net income. Items included in the applicable segment’s net income are directly allocated to the extent that the items are directly or indirectly attributable to the segments. With regards to the items that are allocated by indirect calculations, their allocation is commensurate to the utilization of key resources. The Other column includes components that are not allocated to any of the Company’s reportable segments and includes investments in an affiliate accounted for using the equity method of accounting and investments in marketable securities.

Highlights for the First Quarter Ended March 31, 2025:

• In February 2025, we entered into a syndicated loan facility agreement for an amount of up to $850 million, to finance all of our remaining newbuilding container vessels with deliveries from 2026 through 2028.
• In January 2025 we took delivery of the 6,014 TEU container vessel ‘Phoebe’ that is already contracted for a charter tenor of 7 years.
• Our remaining orderbook currently consists of a further 15 newbuilding containership vessels with an aggregate capacity of 128,220 TEU with expected deliveries of one vessel in 2025, three vessels in 2026, nine vessels in 2027 and two vessels in 2028. All the vessels in our orderbook are designed with the latest eco characteristics, will be methanol fuel ready, fitted with open loop scrubbers and Alternative Maritime Power (AMP) units 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.
• We have secured multi-year charter arrangements for the remaining 15 newbuilding vessels orderbook, with an average charter duration of approximately 5.3 years weighted by aggregate contracted charter hire.
• Over the past three months, we added approximately $525 million to our contracted revenue backlog through a combination of new charters and charter extensions for 12 of our container vessels and container vessels newbuildings.
• As a result, total contracted cash operating revenues, on the basis of concluded charter contracts through the date of this release, currently stand at $3.7 billion, including newbuildings. The remaining average contracted charter duration for our containership fleet is 3.9 years, weighted by aggregate contracted charter hire.
• Contracted operating days charter coverage for our container vessel fleet is currently 99% for 2025 and 85% for 2026. This includes newbuildings based on their scheduled delivery dates.
• As of the date of this release, Danaos has repurchased a total of 2,937,158 shares of its common stock in the open market for $205.7 million under its recently upsized $300 million authorized share repurchase program that was originally introduced in June 2022 and was upsized in November 2023 and April 2025.
• Danaos has declared a dividend of $0.85 per share of common stock for the first quarter of 2025. The dividend is payable on June 5, 2025, to stockholders of record as of May 27, 2025.

Danaos’ CEO Dr. John Coustas commented:

“As the year progresses, the level of global disruption shows no signs of abating. Armed conflicts continue, mostly recently involving India and Pakistan, and the uncertainty of tariffs has led to a dramatic decline in the U.S. Pacific Market. Thus far, the U.S. economy remains resilient. As long as American consumers continue to spend, we anticipate that trade flows will rebound, with depleted inventories eventually driving a surge in demand.

The dry bulk market has recovered from its first quarter lows, although the rebound has been modest. In our view, a meaningful and sustained recovery will be challenging absent further growth initiatives in China. While the much-publicized Simandu project is expected to benefit the capesize market by increasing ton-miles, overall iron ore consumption is not projected to rise significantly.

Our financial performance continues to be strong, although it has been impacted by a number of charter renewals at lower rates than those seen during the Covid pandemic. On the other hand, we continue to build our charter backlog, effectively insulating ourselves from near-term market weakness. Our charter coverage for 2025 and 2026 is largely secured.

A noteworthy recent development is the proposed IMO regulation on greenhouse gas emissions.  Unfortunately, the regulation falls short of the industry’s more ambitious proposals and is unlikely to drive meaningful progress on decarbonisation of our industry. There is limited incentive to use expensive green fuels, and LNG has not been meaningfully prioritized. As a result, there is little clarity on the fuel of the future and at present conventional scrubber-fitted vessels remain the default option under what is, in essence, a “pay to pollute” framework.

We are currently holding off on new vessel investments and are focusing on optimizing the performance of our existing fleet. Our significant growth backlog vessel orderbook includes 15 container vessels scheduled for delivery over the next three years, all backed by solid and profitable charter arrangements that will enhance both our fleet profile and our earnings potential.

Despite the broader uncertainties, we remain committed to delivering superior returns to our shareholders through disciplined execution and long-term strategic focus.”