Global Ship Lease grows fleet with Post-Panamax septet

London-based containership charter owner Global Ship Lease (GSL) has decided to purchase and charter back seven 6,000 TEU Post-Panamax containerships.

As informed, the ship septet will be purchased for an aggregate price of $116 million. The company expects to pay for the ships with $40 million of cash on hand, with the balance provided by bank debt.

GSL said that the charters are to “leading liner operators” for a minimum firm period of 36 months each, followed by two one-year extensions at charterer’s option.

The vessels – which have an average age of about 20 years — are expected to generate aggregate Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $95 million over the average firm period of 3.1 years. If all options are exercised, the vessels are expected to generate approximately $126 million of Adjusted EBITDA.

The vessels are scheduled for phased delivery during the second and third quarters of 2021, at which time they will be renamed GSL Arcadia, GSL Dorothea, GSL Maria, GSL Melita, GSL MYNY, GSL Tegea and GSL Violetta.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of these seven Post-Panamax vessels, consistent with the accretive growth strategy we presented during our recent equity offering. Years of under-ordering in this critically important and in-demand segment have resulted in structural undersupply, with the negligible orderbook ensuring minimal or even negative net supply growth,” George Youroukos, Executive Chairman of Global Ship Lease, commented.

“We believe this transaction will deliver attractive financial returns with predictable contracted cashflows and low residual value risk.”

With the newest additions, the GSL’s fleet will comprise 50 vessels with a total capacity of 287,280 TEU.