Box ship players GSL, MPCC step up fleet renewal targeting mid-size assets

Global Ship Lease and MPC Container Ships ASA (MPCC) have both accelerated their fleet renewal strategies, targeting orders and acquisitions of vessels in the 6,000-7,000 TEU segment.

On 24 June, George Youroukos-led Global Ship Lease announced an order for five mid-sized, ultra-high-reefer, wide-beam, latest-generation container ships, representing an investment of approximately US$413M.

The company has secured multi-year charter contracts for the newbuildings upon delivery in 2029, with a TEU-weighted average charter term of 8.1 years. The agreed rates are expected to generate aggregate adjusted EBITDA of approximately US$362M over the vessels’ respective median firm charter periods, with a further US$131M achievable if charterers exercise all extension options.

The latest order follows the company’s contract for 10 vessels announced earlier this month, bringing its total orderbook to 15 ships. Collectively, these vessels are expected to generate more than US$1Bn in adjusted EBITDA over an average TEU-weighted firm charter term of 7.1 years.

Global Ship Lease has not disclosed either the vessel specifications or the identities of the shipyards responsible for the project.

However, Riviera recently reported that the company had been linked to an order at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding for four 6,200-TEU vessels. Two additional shipyards believed to be involved are Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering and Hengli Heavy Industries, although the allocation of vessels between the yards remains unclear.

“As some of the existing ‘cash cows’ of the fleet begin to age out, the addition of these new vessels with multi-year charters will not only materially reduce our average fleet age but also provide us with a substantially extended cash-generation runway into the decades ahead,” said Global Ship Lease executive chairman George Youroukos.

The company’s fleet comprises 71 container vessels.

MPCC advances fleet renewal

Separately, on 25 June, MPC Container Ships ASA (MPCC) disclosed that it had agreed to acquire four eco-conventional container vessels built between 2023 and 2024, each with a capacity of 7,000 TEU, for a total consideration of approximately US$340M.

Each vessel comes with a three-year fixed-rate time charter to a top-five liner operator. These charters provide immediate earnings visibility, securing US$180M in revenue and US$140M in expected EBITDA, while increasing the company’s contracted revenue backlog to US$2.2Bn.

Meanwhile, MPCC has agreed to sell 2012-built AS Selina for US$24M and 2007-built AS Angelina for US$17M. It has also chartered out 2009-built AS Pamela and 2016-built AS Anne on contracts of 24-27 months and 30-32 months, respectively, at what it described as "attractive rates".

The company is supporting its fleet renewal initiative through a US$375M senior secured term loan.

MPCC chief executive Constantin Baack said feeder and mid-sized vessels of up to 10,000 TEU are expected to benefit disproportionately from a "structural shift toward intra-regional trade" in the global container shipping market.

“Modern, fuel-efficient tonnage in this size class remains undersupplied, and these versatile workhorses, deployable across virtually any trade lane, are the natural successors to an ageing fleet of classic Panamax and first-generation post-Panamax vessels,” he added.

The company’s website lists a fleet of 51 vessels.