Global Ship Lease Earns Less in First Quarter

UK-based containership charter owner Global Ship Lease saw its net income for the quarter drop to USD 4.2 million from USD 6.8 million reported in the first quarter of 2017.

The company’s operating revenues were at USD 36.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018, down from USD 39.6 million seen in the same period a year earlier.

“In the first quarter, we continued to maximize the value of our contract coverage with top-tier counterparties by maintaining full employment across our fleet of mid-sized and smaller containerships,” Ian Webber, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship Lease, said.

During the quarter, GSL reached an agreement for the extension of its charter for the 8,063 TEU containership OOCL Qingdao with Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL).

The extension commenced with effect from March 11, 2018, at a fixed rate of USD 14,000 per day.

Additionally, on March 1, the company agreed to acquire a 2005-built, 2,800 TEU containership for USD 11.3 million. Following delivery, which is expected to be during the second quarter of 2018, once the existing charter terminates, the vessel will commence charter employment with CMA CGM for a period of 12 months at a fixed rate of USD 9,000 per day.

“As we have successfully extended charters that support our strong cashflows, we are beginning to capture the benefits of a marked strengthening that is underway in the market for mid-sized and smaller vessels,” Webber said.

GSL informed that the long-term market trends driving the appreciation in mid-sized and smaller containerships “continue to be robust, with limited vessel ordering, a strong global economy, and idle capacity of the global fleet at a very low level of less than 1.5%.”