BOX SHIPS, the New York-listed, Athens-based container shipping start-up has entered into agreements with Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) to buy two 5,344-TEU postpanamax ships.

The purchase price for the 1995-build OOCL Hong Kong and the 1996-built OOCL China is US$31.155 million each, inclusive of fees.

The vessels are expected to be delivered before July 14 and thereafter will be chartered to OOCL for a period of 36 months plus or minus 30 days at a net daily rate of $26,465.

The employment of the two ships is expected to generate US$57 million in revenues over the charter, Box Ships said in a statement.

To finance this acquisition, Box Ships issued $40 million of 9.75 per cent of Series B preferred shares to the company chairman, president and CEO Michael Bodouroglou. Each of the 1,333,333 shares shall receive a five-year warrant to purchase one share of the company's common stock at $7.74.

The balance of the purchase price will be funded by drawing down a $25 million senior secured credit facility from a major European bank. The credit facility has a tenor of three years with a balloon of $10 million, and will accrue interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 3.75 per cent.

The two vessels will bring the number of containerships in Box Ships' fleet to nine with a total capacity of 43,925 TEU and an average age of 7.4 years.