Global Ship Lease

Container shipping was first introduced in the 1950's and has become the most common method for transporting many industrial and consumer products by sea. It is an integral component of the transportation infrastructure for world trade, both stimulating and facilitating globalization.

Container shipping companies operate regular scheduled services with pre-determined port calls, using a number of owned or chartered vessels of a particular size in each service to achieve an appropriate frequency and utilization level depending on the volume of trade. These container shipping companies represent GSL's customer base and are also known as "liners", "liner companies" or "operators".

Containerized trade occupies a vital position in world trade and has generally been the fastest growing sector of international shipping. Notwithstanding recent disruptions in trade flows caused by global economic upheaval, container shipping has exhibited high demand growth over the long term. Compound annual growth in volume terms (as measured in TEU's) from 1997 to 2007 was approximately 10%. This growth has been sustained by general increases in world trade, global sourcing and manufacturing and continuing penetration of the general cargo market.

To meet this demand growth, the industry has made substantial investment in additional containership capacity which requires billions of dollars of capital each year.

Furthermore, there is a clear trend for liner companies to disaggregate asset ownership and asset operation by chartering in more of their tonnage requirements, allowing them to free up capital and management resources for other strategic needs. Consequently, the role of containership lessors, such as Global Ship Lease, is becoming increasingly important.

GSL is well positioned to capitalize upon opportunities within this dynamic space.