New York-listed containership owner and lessor Global Ship Lease has expanded its fleet in a $90 deal for three 8,600 TEU containerships.

The company has agreed to acquire three 2010/2011 Korean-built vessels with ECO upgrades.

The newly acquired vessels have attached charters with a “leading liner company.” The charters are at below-market rates and have flexible durations, Global Ship Lease said, with latest redeliveries in mid-2030.

If the charters run to their full terms, Global Ship Lease said it expects them to generate aggregate revenues of around $88m; and at a through-cycle scrap price of $400 per LWT, the ships would have a combined scrap value of approximately $40m.

With these additions, the company’s fleet will comprise 71 vessels with a total capacity of 422,567 TEU. 

The vessels are expected to be delivered around year-end 2025. Global Ship Lease said it plans to fund the acquisition initially with cash on hand, which facilitates speed of execution, with the potential to attach financing subsequently.

George Youroukos, executive chairman of Global Ship Lease, commented: “We are pleased to announce the acquisition of these three high-spec, operationally flexible and commercially attractive ships on terms that materially de-risk the transaction on the front end while offering attractive upside earnings potential in the years ahead.

“These are the cash cows of the future, and we are delighted to be buying them at an en bloc charter-attached price which is close to the market value of a single charter-free ship today; three for the price of one, effectively. GSL’s patience, through-cycle approach to value generation, and fortress balance sheet have made it possible for us to pounce on this opportunity, which we believe offers a compelling all-in return profile.

“Following our sale of four substantially older, smaller vessels earlier this year for nearly the same aggregate dollar value as this acquisition, we are very pleased to be renewing and enhancing our fleet by recycling capital to provide GSL with the newer, larger, value-generating assets that we expect to serve us and all shareholders well for many years to come.”

Global Ship Lease is an owner of containerships with a diversified fleet of mid-sized and smaller containerships.