Global Ship Lease (GSL), a containership charter owner, announced that it has agreed to a new time charter with CMA CGM for an 8,063 TEU containership, the 2005-built OOCL Tianjin, which will be renamed GSL Tianjin.
The vessel will be chartered for a period of three to eight months (at the charterer's option) at a fixed rate of $13,000 per day, commencing immediately upon re-delivery from its current charter on or around October 25, 2017.
Ian Webber, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship Lease, commented, "We are pleased to have secured continued employment for the Tianjin on an EBITDA positive basis with one of the most active charterers in the market, CMA CGM. We also appreciate the close cooperation of both the current charterer, OOCL, and CMA CGM in ensuring a seamless transition directly from one time charter to the next, with no intervening downtime."
"Coming off of its initial sale-and-leaseback charter with OOCL, the vessel will now be fixed at a profitable rate, which is reflective of market conditions, throughout the weaker winter months without compromising our ability to re-enter the strengthening market during a more seasonally advantageous period," he added.
"By continuing to focus on maintaining full fleet employment with top-tier counterparties, we believe that Global Ship Lease is well positioned to generate sustainable long-term cashflows for our shareholders and to benefit from the ongoing improvements in the market for mid-sized and smaller containerships,” Ian concluded.
Global Ship Lease is a containership charter owner. Incorporated in the Marshall Islands, Global Ship Lease commenced operations in December 2007 with a business of owning and chartering out containerships under mainly long-term, fixed-rate charters to top tier container liner companies.
Global Ship Lease owns 18 vessels with a total capacity of 82,312 TEU and an average age, weighted by TEU capacity, at August 31, 2017 of 12.7 years. All 18 vessels are currently fixed on time charters, 15 of which are with CMA CGM.
The average remaining term of the charters at August 31, 2017 is 3.1 years or 3.4 years on a TEU weighted basis, taking into account the two charter extensions announced on September 11, 2017 and the new charter for Tianjin.