Greece’s containership owner and lessor Global Ship Lease exercised options to build two additional mid-size, ultra-high-reefer, wide-beam, latest-generation containerships for an aggregate contract price of approximately $163m.
The company said the exercise of newbuild options is subject to certain conditions precedent being met.
The additional newbuilds are scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2029.
The New York-listed Global Ship Lease said it is in discussions with ‘prospective charterers’ regarding their employment upon delivery.
The latest move takes the George Youroukos-led company’s newbuilding orderbook to 17 ships.
George Youroukos, executive chairman of Global Ship Lease, commented: “We are strong believers in the value proposition of high specification, highly flexible, mid-sized containerships and expect them to play a crucial role for our industry for many years to come.
“By exercising these additional newbuild options, we are very pleased to be growing our exposure to this increasingly valuable vessel class on attractive terms agreed earlier this year and at prices no longer available in the market for comparably specified ships with 2029 deliveries.”
New York-listed Global Ship Lease is an owner of containerships with a diversified fleet of mid-sized and smaller containerships.
The company’s operating fleet of 71 containerships as of June 30, 2026, had an average age weighted by TEU capacity of 18.4 years. 41 ships are wide-beam post-panamax.
As of June 30, 2026, Global Ship Lease’ fleet also included 15 newbuilding containerships under construction with scheduled deliveries between the fourth quarter of 2028 and the first quarter of 2030.
