Global Ship Lease Secures $1 Billion Loan To Finance 15 New Containerships

Global Ship Lease has secured a $1 billion loan from a group of eight banks to finance 15 new containerships. The ships are due to be delivered between late 2028 and early 2030. The seven-year loan carries an interest margin of 1.5% above the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).

The company will draw the money in stages as each ship is delivered. All 15 vessels have charter contracts and are expected to begin work shortly after delivery.

Global Ship Lease said the loan facility was oversubscribed. Its interest margin is also 550 basis points lower than the margin available to the company five years ago.

The 15 ships are part of a newbuilding order announced in June 2026. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2028 and continue until the first quarter of 2030.

Tassos Psaropoulos, chief financial officer of Global Ship Lease, said the agreement would help reduce the financial risks linked to the new ships. He said the company had secured favourable terms from a group of international lenders.

The loan structure will allow the company to draw funds as the ships arrive and begin their multi-year charter contracts. According to Psaropoulos, this will help the company manage its costs and cash flow.

Bank of America acted as bookrunner, mandated lead arranger, facility agent and security agent.

Bank of China (Hong Kong), KfW IPEX and ABN-AMRO were mandated lead arrangers. CTBC and CaixaBank served as lead arrangers, while BOCOM (Hong Kong) and First Citizens Bank acted as arrangers.

Psaropoulos said Global Ship Lease had spent the past few years strengthening its balance sheet and improving its access to lower-cost financing.

He said the new loan, with a margin 550 basis points below the level available five years ago, showed the progress made by the company. He also said the financing would help it compete in the containership market and deliver value to shareholders.

Global Ship Lease owns containerships and charters them to container liner companies under fixed-rate agreements. The company is incorporated in the Marshall Islands, began operations in December 2007 and has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since August 2008.

As of June 30, 2026, the company operated 71 containerships. Their average age was 18.4 years when weighted by TEU capacity. Of the 71 ships, 41 were wide-beam Post-Panamax vessels.

The average remaining charter term was 3.3 years, measured to the midpoint of redelivery and weighted by TEU capacity. This figure included the 15 initial newbuildings and options controlled by the company, but excluded vessels for which a redelivery notice had been received.

Contracted revenue on this basis stood at $3.2 billion.

When options controlled by charterers were included and the latest redelivery dates were used, contracted revenue totalled $4.1 billion. The weighted average remaining charter term on this basis was 4.4 years.

In October 2026, Global Ship Lease also exercised options to build two more mid-sized containerships. The ships will have ultra-high reefer capacity, wide-beam designs and the latest-generation specifications.

References: businessinsider, investing