Global Ship Lease (GSL), the Greek shipping company listed on the US stock exchange – and one of the world’s largest container ship owners – is exercising options to acquire further new container ships, even without fixed charter contracts.
The world’s seventh-largest shipping company has now announced that – officially “subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent” – options have been exercised for the construction of two further container ships. These vessels are reportedly medium-sized units featuring a ‘wide-beam’ design and a high refrigerated container capacity.
The investment is estimated at around $163 million. The shipyard has not been disclosed. Deliveries are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2029. The order book thus grows to a total of 17 vessels.
The GSL fleet currently comprises 71 small and medium-sized container ships with an average age of 18.4 years. Forty-one of these ships are ‘wide-beam’ vessels of the Post-Panamax class. The 17 newbuilds are due to be delivered from the fourth quarter of 2028. According to calculations by the industry service Alphaliner, GSL ranks seventh in the global market for non-operating container ship owners (NOOs) or tramp shipping companies. Its market share is reported as 3.5 per cent. This places it behind market leaders Seaspan, Shoei Kisen, Zodiac Maritime, Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS), Costamare and Danaos. GSL is followed by Nissen Kaiun and the German Döhle Group (including the vessels owned by Ernst Russ).
For its most recent newbuilds, the management team led by Executive Chairman George Youroukos opted for speculative orders. According to a statement, the company is “in discussions with potential charterers regarding their employment following delivery”.
“We are firmly convinced of the value of medium-sized container ships with high technical specifications and great flexibility, and we expect them to continue to play a crucial role in our industry for many years to come. We are delighted to be expanding our presence in this increasingly valuable class of vessel by exercising these additional newbuild options – and to do so on attractive terms agreed earlier this year, as well as at prices that are no longer available on the market for comparably equipped vessels with a delivery date in 2029,” said Youroukos
As at 30 June 2026, the average remaining term of the charter contracts for the operating and ordered fleet was 3.3 years. On this basis, the contractually agreed revenue amounts to $3.2 billion, according to the figures.
