Global Ship Lease Adds 20th Vessel to Its Fleet

Global Ship Lease, Inc., a containership charter owner incorporated in the Marshall Islands, has taken delivery of a 2004-built, 8,063 TEU containership, the OOCL Ningbo.

Upon delivery, the vessel commenced a timecharter back to Orient Overseas Container Line UK Limited, an affiliate of the seller, for 36 to 39 months at a rate of USD 34,500 per day. With this addition, the company’s fleet stands at 20 vessels with a total capacity of 90,538 TEU.

 ” The addition of the OOCL Ningbo to our fleet increases our contracted revenue stream by between $37.7 and $40.9 million, supporting the long-term sustainability of our dividend. Furthermore, with the OOCL Ningbo’s full quarterly cashflow contribution in the fourth quarter of 2015, and as previously announced, we intend to increase our regular quarterly dividend at that time to $0.125 per share, or $0.50 per share on an annualized basis, an increase of 25% from its current level,” said Ian Webber, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship Lease.

“While we are pleased with our progress in expanding our earnings power, strengthening our contract coverage, and diversifying our charter portfolio with top-tier charterers, we believe that attractive opportunities continue to exist in the current market. By virtue of our strong balance sheet and operational track record, Global Ship Lease is well positioned to seize these additional growth opportunities, expanding our dividend-paying capacity and creating value for our shareholders,” Webber continued.

Global Ship Lease said that all of its 20 vessels are currently fixed on time charters, 15 of which are with CMA CGM. The average remaining term of the charters at September 17, 2015 was 4.9 years or 5.1 years on a weighted basis, excluding Ville d’Aquarius, and Ville d’Orion, which are deployed in the short-term charter market.