PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY
This section summarizes some of the key information that is contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement. It may not contain all of the information that may be important to you and is qualified in its entirety by the more detailed information and financial statements included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus. As an investor or prospective investor, you should review carefully the entire prospectus, any free writing prospectus that may be provided to you in connection with the offering of the Class A common shares and the information incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement, including the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-
7 of this prospectus supplement, on page
3 of the accompanying base prospectus, and in our 2023 Annual Report.
Our Company
Global Ship Lease is a leading independent owner of containerships with a diversified fleet of mid-sized and smaller containerships. Incorporated in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Global Ship Lease commenced operations in December 2007 with a business of owning and chartering out containerships under fixed-rate charters to top tier container liner companies.
We were formed in 2007 to purchase and charter back 17 containerships then owned or to be purchased by CMA CGM, at that time the third largest containership operator in the world by number of vessels. On August 14, 2008, we merged indirectly with Marathon Acquisition Corp. and became listed on the NYSE on August 15, 2008, with our Class A common shares trading under the symbol “GSL”. On November 15, 2018, we completed a transformative transaction by which we acquired 20 containerships, one of which was contracted to be sold, which we refer to as the “Poseidon Transaction.”
We currently own 68 containerships, ranging from 2,207 to 11,040 TEU, with a total capacity of 376,723 TEU and an average age, weighted by TEU capacity, of 17.7 years as of June 30, 2024. Of the vessels in our fleet, 36 ships, accounting for over 50% of our fleet capacity, are wide-beam Post-Panamax.
As of June 30, 2024, the average remaining term of the Company’s charters, to the mid-point of redelivery, including options under the Company’s control and other than if a redelivery notice has been received, was 2.2 years on a TEU-weighted basis. Contracted revenue on the same basis was $1.77 billion. Contracted revenue was $2.13 billion, including options under charterers’ control and with latest redelivery date, representing a weighted average remaining term of 2.8 years. Between January 1, 2024 and June 30, 2024, we added $402.7 million of contracted revenue to forward charter cover, calculated on the basis of the median firm periods of the respective charters, on a total of 24 new charters or extensions: eight for ships between 2,200 and 3,500 TEU; 11 for ships between 5,000 TEU and 6,100 TEU; and, five for ships between 6,500 TEU and 8,000 TEU. Durations of these new charters and extensions for the median firm periods range between nine months and 40 months. A number of the vessels were forward fixed several months ahead of their expected availability in the market. For additional information on our fleet, please see “Our Fleet” below.
Recent Developments
On August 7, 2024, we, through certain of our subsidiaries, entered into a new senior secured credit facility with Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., and Bank of America N.A., for $300.0 million. The net proceeds of the facility to date have been, and are expected to be, used to refinance or prepay, in full or in part, indebtedness under certain of our existing credit facilities, which will result in 11 of our vessels becoming unencumbered, a reduction in our weighted-average cost of debt from 4.57% to 3.98%, and an extension of our weighted-average maturity of debt from 2.6 years to 4.2 years. The new credit facility has a term of six years and is repayable in 24 quarterly installments. Outstanding amounts under the new facility bear interest at a rate of Term SOFR (which is subject to our existing 0.64% SOFR interest rate cap through 2026) plus a margin of 1.85%. The new facility contains covenants that are similar to those made under our existing credit facilities, and will be secured by, among other things, first priority mortgages on 10 of our vessels.