Global Ship Lease Inc (GSL) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Global Ship Lease Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

早上好，歡迎來到 Global Ship Lease 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）作為提醒，正在錄製此電話會議。

I would now like to turn the call over to Ian Webber, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship Lease. Thank you. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在想把電話轉給 Global Ship Lease 的首席執行官 Ian Webber。謝謝。請繼續，先生。

Thank you very much. Good morning, good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Global Ship Lease Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. The slides that accompany today's presentation are available on our website at www.globalshiplease.com.

非常感謝。大家早上好，下午好，歡迎參加全球船舶租賃第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議。今天演示文稿的幻燈片可在我們的網站 www.globalshiplease.com 上找到。

Slides 1 -- sorry, Slides 2 and 3 of that presentation, remind you that as normal, today's call may include forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and assumptions, and I -- are, by their nature, inherently uncertain and outside of the company's control. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to many factors, including those described in the safe harbor section of the slide presentation.

幻燈片 1——抱歉，該演示文稿的幻燈片 2 和 3，提醒您，正常情況下，今天的電話會議可能包含基於當前預期和假設的前瞻性陳述，而我——就其本質而言，具有內在的不確定性和不確定性不在公司的控制範圍內。由於許多因素，包括在幻燈片演示文稿的安全港部分中描述的因素，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述存在重大差異。

We also draw your attention to the Risk Factors section of our most recent annual report on Form 20-F, which is for 2021 and was filed with the SEC on March 24, 2022. You can obtain this via our website or via the SEC's. All of our statements are qualified by these and other disclosures in our reports filed with the SEC. We do not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements.

我們還提請您注意我們最新的 20-F 表年度報告的風險因素部分，該報告是 2021 年的，於 2022 年 3 月 24 日提交給美國證券交易委員會。您可以通過我們的網站或美國證券交易委員會的網站獲取此部分。我們所有的聲明都符合我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中的這些和其他披露。我們不承擔任何更新前瞻性陳述的義務。

The reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures, to which we will refer during this call, to the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, you please -- with GAAP usually refer to the earnings release that we issued this morning, which is also available on our website.

我們將在本次電話會議中提到的非 GAAP 財務指標與根據 GAAP 計算和呈現的最直接可比指標的調節，你請 - GAAP 通常指的是我們今天上午發布的收益發布，也可在我們的網站上找到。

As usual, I'm joined today by our Executive Chairman, George Youroukos; our Chief Financial Officer, Tassos Psaropoulos; and our Chief Commercial Officer, Tom Lister. George will begin the call with a high-level commentary on GSL and our industry, then Tassos, Tom and I will take you through our recent activity, quarterly results and financials, the current market environment. After that, we'll be pleased to take your questions.

和往常一樣，今天我們的執行主席 George Youroukos 也加入了我的行列；我們的首席財務官 Tassos Psaropoulos；以及我們的首席商務官 Tom Lister。 George 將以對 GSL 和我們行業的高級評論開始電話會議，然後 Tassos、Tom 和我將帶您了解我們最近的活動、季度業績和財務狀況以及當前的市場環境。之後，我們很樂意回答您的問題。

So turning now to Slide 4. I'll pass the call over to George.

現在轉到幻燈片 4。我會把電話轉給喬治。

Thank you, Ian, and good afternoon or evening to all of you joining us today. As we have flagged in recent quarters, macro headwinds and negative economic sentiment have continued to put pressure on consumer demand and thus on the container shipping industry. This has exerted downward pressure on charter rates and asset values, although they're still broadly at or above levels prior to the pandemic. Nevertheless, because we secured extensive contract cover for a large portion of our fleet, while the market was very strong, GSL is well positioned to weather the challenges ahead and to capitalize on opportunities that we expect to arise now that we have clearly entered a different phase of the cycle.

謝謝你，伊恩，下午好或晚上好，今天加入我們的所有人。正如我們在最近幾個季度所指出的那樣，宏觀逆風和負面經濟情緒繼續給消費者需求帶來壓力，從而給集裝箱航運業帶來壓力。這對租船費率和資產價值造成了下行壓力，儘管它們仍大致處於或高於大流行之前的水平。儘管如此，由於我們為我們的大部分機隊獲得了廣泛的合同覆蓋，而市場非常強勁，GSL 有能力應對未來的挑戰並利用我們預期會出現的機會，因為我們已經明確進入了一個不同的領域週期的階段。

Our fourth quarter and full year 2022 results reflect our very strong contracted cash flow profile and once again represent a dramatic step-up relative to all prior years, reflecting our well-timed growth and the attractiveness of the charters that we secured across our fleet, many of which extend on a fixed rate basis several years into the future.

我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年業績反映了我們非常強勁的合同現金流狀況，並且再次代表了相對於前幾年的顯著提升，反映了我們適時的增長以及我們在整個機隊中獲得的包機的吸引力，其中許多以固定利率為基礎延長至未來數年。

We have a robust balance sheet with no significant debt refinancing obligations before 2026 and a low overall cost of debt. Our floating debt is fully hedged through 2026, with LIBOR and SOFR capped at an attractive 75 basis points only. We continue to pay our sustainable dividend of $1.50 per common share annually and have opportunistically repurchased a cumulative $40 million of our shares of which $10 million was done since our last earnings call.

我們擁有穩健的資產負債表，在 2026 年之前沒有重大的債務再融資義務，而且總體債務成本較低。到 2026 年，我們的浮動債務已完全對沖，LIBOR 和 SOFR 的上限僅為 75 個基點。我們繼續每年支付每股普通股 1.50 美元的可持續股息，並有機會回購累計 4000 萬美元的股票，其中 1000 萬美元是自我們上次財報電話會議以來完成的。

From this position of stability and financial strength, we are continuing to reinforce the long-term resilience of our business in the face of cyclicality, evolving regulations and the increasing decarbonization focus of our customers.

憑藉這種穩定性和財務實力，我們將繼續加強我們業務的長期彈性，以應對周期性、不斷變化的法規和客戶日益關注的脫碳問題。

With that, I will turn the call over to Ian.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給伊恩。

Thank you, George. Please turn to Slide 5. Here, we show the diversification of our charterer base, which is well balanced across essentially all of the leading global liner companies. In total, we've just under $2.1 billion of contracted revenue, extending over a TEU weighted average of 2.7 years. Almost half of this total was from the 19 charters agreed during the course of 2022 and year-to-date 2023. 11 of these 19 were forward fixtures for multi years.

謝謝你，喬治。請轉到幻燈片 5。在這裡，我們展示了我們租船人基礎的多元化，這在基本上所有領先的全球班輪公司中都得到了很好的平衡。總的來說，我們的合同收入略低於 21 億美元，超過 2.7 年的 TEU 加權平均值。這一總數的近一半來自 2022 年和 2023 年初至今商定的 19 個章程。這 19 個中的 11 個是多年的遠期固定裝置。

To illustrate how the market dynamics have changed since October 1 last year, so in the last 5 months, we have made only 4 charter fixtures for aggregate revenues of a little under $22 million. These charter periods range from 4 to 16 months with an average duration of about 10 months, a significant turnaround from the first 9 months of 2022 when rates were elevated and fixtures often multiyear. Our fleet is already approximately 93% chartered through the end of this year, 2023 and 72% covered in 2024.

為了說明自去年 10 月 1 日以來市場動態發生了怎樣的變化，在過去的 5 個月裡，我們只進行了 4 次包機，總收入略低於 2200 萬美元。這些租期從 4 個月到 16 個月不等，平均持續時間約為 10 個月，與 2022 年前 9 個月相比出現了重大轉變，當時費率有所上升，固定期限通常為多年。到今年年底，到 2023 年，我們的機隊已經包租了大約 93%，到 2024 年覆蓋了 72%。

We're pleased to be recognized as a trusted partner to the liner companies, and we work closely with them to ensure that our vessels meet their long-term strategic needs both by ensuring that they're reliable and well maintained and well operated, but also by pursuing jointly with them, our customers, the charterers, decarbonization and other vessel optimization investments that enhance both ongoing performance and the value and earnings potential of the underlying assets.

我們很高興被班輪公司公認為值得信賴的合作夥伴，我們與他們密切合作，通過確保我們的船隻可靠、維護良好和運營良好來確保我們的船隻滿足他們的長期戰略需求，但還通過與他們、我們的客戶、承租人、脫碳和其他船舶優化投資共同進行，以提高持續績效以及相關資產的價值和盈利潛力。

On the next slide, Slide 6. As in previous quarters, we show illustrative guidance across a different range of 3 different rate scenarios. As always, I want to be clear that this is not a forecast. Whilst it is important to note the extent of forward coverage that we have through 2024 and beyond, and the impact of forward charters that were previously agreed, but have not yet been fully realized in our results. It is also the case that currently prevailing rates have dipped marginally below the rolling 15-year and 10-year averages. These averages are heavily influenced by the recent record peak earnings period.

在下一張幻燈片 6 上。與前幾個季度一樣，我們展示了 3 種不同利率情景的不同範圍的說明性指導。與往常一樣，我想明確表示這不是預測。重要的是要注意我們到 2024 年及以後的遠期覆蓋範圍，以及先前商定但尚未在我們的結果中完全實現的遠期包機的影響。此外，目前的現行利率已略低於 15 年和 10 年的滾動平均水平。這些平均值在很大程度上受到最近創紀錄的盈利高峰期的影響。

Moving on to Slide 7, where we show an overview of our dynamic and disciplined capital allocation strategy. Our contracted revenue is highly visible and provides us with full coverage of our operating needs and our debt service, both interest and amortization. We've also been able to return capital to shareholders by way of our sustainable dividend of $1.50 per year, which is $0.375 per quarter. And as George said, we've repurchased about $40 million of our shares since we began our buybacks about 18 months ago. $30 million of this has been under the $40 million buyback authorization, which we put in place in the second quarter of last year and includes $10 million since our last earnings call in November.

轉到幻燈片 7，我們在其中展示了我們動態和有紀律的資本配置策略的概述。我們的合同收入是高度可見的，並為我們提供了對我們的運營需求和我們的債務償還（包括利息和攤銷）的全面覆蓋。我們還能夠通過每年 1.50 美元的可持續股息向股東返還資本，即每季度 0.375 美元。正如喬治所說，自大約 18 個月前開始回購以來，我們已經回購了大約 4000 萬美元的股票。其中 3000 萬美元已獲得 4000 萬美元的回購授權，該授權是我們在去年第二季度實施的，其中包括自 11 月上次財報電話會議以來的 1000 萬美元。

We continue to delever the business to manage balance sheet risk and to build equity value. We are making continuous investments in ship performance optimization and decarbonization. As noted, this includes working with our charters to install energy-saving retrofits to our vessels. As asset values normalize and with a strong balance sheet, we're also keeping a disciplined eye open for fleet growth and renewal opportunities that meet our strict requirements. I'll come back to this on the next slide.

我們繼續去槓桿化業務以管理資產負債表風險並建立股權價值。我們正在對船舶性能優化和脫碳進行持續投資。如前所述，這包括與我們的租船公司合作，為我們的船隻安裝節能改造。隨著資產價值的正常化和強大的資產負債表，我們也在密切關注滿足我們嚴格要求的機隊增長和更新機會。我將在下一張幻燈片中回到這一點。

We also want to build strong cash liquidity both for resilience and in order to retain optionality and consistent competitiveness in a cyclical industry against an uncertain macro backdrop and an evolving regulatory environment. Through all of this, our ultimate focus is on generating long-term value for shareholders through a balanced approach that allows us to be nimble in pursuing the most attractive value-generating opportunities at each point in the cycle.

我們還希望建立強大的現金流動性，以增強彈性，並在不確定的宏觀背景和不斷變化的監管環境下保持週期性行業的選擇性和持續競爭力。通過所有這一切，我們的最終重點是通過一種平衡的方法為股東創造長期價值，使我們能夠在周期的每個時刻靈活地追求最具吸引力的價值創造機會。

Turning now to Slide 8. The chart here shows the last 20 years or so of containership asset prices and 1-year time charter rates, superimposed on which we have shown the acquisitions that we've made since we merged with Poseidon in late 2018. What are the main takeaways? The first is to demonstrate the cyclicality of our industry and to highlight the risks and opportunities of cyclicality entail. The second is to emphasize the disciplined nature of our acquisitions, all of which have been made either at cyclical lows or more recently, immediately prior to a massive increase in asset values and earnings that we were able to identify early and to capitalize upon. And the third and equally important point to emphasize is that we have not made any acquisitions at all since the middle of 2021 -- June 2021, since when asset values were spiking. Not because there weren't ample opportunities to do so, but because we maintained our laser focus on managing risk and optimizing return.

現在轉到幻燈片 8。此處的圖表顯示了過去 20 年左右的集裝箱船資產價格和 1 年期租船費率，疊加在上面的是我們在 2018 年底與 Poseidon 合併後進行的收購。主要收穫是什麼？首先是展示我們行業的周期性，並強調週期性帶來的風險和機遇。第二是強調我們收購的紀律性，所有這些收購都是在周期性低點或最近發生的，緊接在我們能夠及早發現並利用的資產價值和收益大幅增加之前。第三點也是同樣重要的一點要強調的是，自 2021 年年中 - 2021 年 6 月以來，我們根本沒有進行任何收購，當時資產價值飆升。不是因為沒有足夠的機會這樣做，而是因為我們始終專注於管理風險和優化回報。

During that same period, in the absence of compelling purchase opportunities, we returned capital to shareholders by way of our sustainable dividend and through the opportunistic share buybacks. We've also increased the company's equity value and de-risked through aggressive deleveraging.

同一時期，在沒有令人信服的購買機會的情況下，我們通過可持續的股息和機會主義的股票回購向股東返還資本。我們還增加了公司的股權價值，並通過積極的去槓桿化來降低風險。

So to conclude on this slide, the main takeaway is in the title. Discipline and timing of the cycle correctly are key to making value-accretive acquisitions in container shipping, and those remain our core investment principles.

所以總結這張幻燈片，主要內容就在標題中。正確的周期紀律和時機是在集裝箱航運領域進行增值收購的關鍵，而這些仍然是我們的核心投資原則。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Tassos to talk you through our financials.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給塔索斯，讓你了解我們的財務狀況。

Thank you, Ian. On Slide 9, we have summarized our 2022 financial highlights. Revenue for the full year 2022 was $645.6 million, up 44% from 2021. Adjusted EBITDA for the year was $398.2 million (sic) [$398.3 million], up almost 70%. Our normalized net income, which adjust for one-off items, was $298.2 million, an increase of 75%.

謝謝你，伊恩。在幻燈片 9 中，我們總結了 2022 年的財務亮點。 2022 年全年收入為 6.456 億美元，比 2021 年增長 44%。全年調整後的 EBITDA 為 3.982 億美元（原文如此）[3.983 億美元]，增長近 70%。經一次性項目調整後，我們的標準化淨收入為 2.982 億美元，增長了 75%。

Now on the balance sheet, we took a number of important actions throughout the year to delever, to reduce our cost of debt to a blended rate of 453 basis points, to push material refinancing requirements out to 2026, to diversify our sources of capital, notably, including our first U.S. private placement of investment-grade debt, to fully hedge our exposure to rising interest rates and to amend covenants in such a way as improves our flexibility. Please note that the refinancings we have executed over the last 12 months or so have actually left us overhedged, principally because we replaced some floating rate debt with a fixed rate private placement. There is currently about approximately $220 million of headroom available under the 75 basis points interest rate cap, which would reduce the effective cost of any additional floating rate debt we may rise.

現在在資產負債表上，我們全年採取了一系列重要行動來去槓桿化，將我們的債務成本降低到 453 個基點的混合利率，將物質再融資要求推遲到 2026 年，使我們的資本來源多樣化，值得注意的是，包括我們首次在美國私募投資級債務，以充分對沖我們對利率上升的風險，並以提高我們靈活性的方式修改契約。請注意，我們在過去 12 個月左右執行的再融資實際上讓我們過度對沖，主要是因為我們用固定利率私募取代了一些浮動利率債務。目前在 75 個基點的利率上限下有大約 2.2 億美元的淨空，這將降低我們可能增加的任何額外浮動利率債務的有效成本。

As already mentioned, we have been utilizing our buyback authorization, and we continue to pay an attractive quarterly dividend between January 1, 2022, and year-to-date 2023, we have returned a total of about $80 million to common shareholders, $30 million by way of share buybacks and $50 million, we are sustainable common dividend. A further $13 million of common dividend is due to be paid in the next couple of days.

如前所述，我們一直在使用我們的回購授權，我們將繼續在 2022 年 1 月 1 日至 2023 年期間支付具有吸引力的季度股息，我們已向普通股股東返還了總計約 8000 萬美元，3000 萬美元通過股票回購和 5000 萬美元，我們獲得了可持續的共同股息。未來幾天還將支付 1300 萬美元的普通股息。

Concluding this slide, although we have a total of $278 million of cash on our balance sheet at the year-end. Please note that $150 million of this is restricted out of which $118 million represents advanced receipt of charter hire and a further $22.4 million is held from minimum liquidity covenants. The remaining $106 million of cash contributes to our working capital requirements and balance sheet flexibility.

總結這張幻燈片，儘管我們在年底的資產負債表上總共有 2.78 億美元的現金。請注意，其中 1.5 億美元受到限制，其中 1.18 億美元代表租船租金的預收款，另外 2240 萬美元來自最低流動性契約。剩餘的 1.06 億美元現金有助於滿足我們的營運資金需求和資產負債表的靈活性。

Moving on, Slide 10 is a summary of our key capital structure developments over time. In the upper left, you can see our amortization schedule through the end of 2024. As we think is prudent in a cyclical industry with assets that have finite life, we aggressively amortize our debt, utilizing our cash flows to delever and manage the risk. Our detailed amortization schedule is in the appendix of this presentation on Slide 28.

繼續，幻燈片 10 總結了我們隨時間推移的主要資本結構發展。在左上角，您可以看到我們到 2024 年底的攤銷時間表。正如我們認為在資產壽命有限的周期性行業中謹慎行事，我們積極攤銷債務，利用我們的現金流去槓桿化和管理風險。我們詳細的攤銷時間表在幻燈片 28 的本演示文稿的附錄中。

On the upper right of the slide, you can see the margin and overall cost of our debt, both of which continue to fall over time despite the high rate environment and is actually now as low as the Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate. Our average margin is now down to just over 3% from 4.6% at the beginning of 2022.

在幻燈片的右上角，您可以看到我們債務的保證金和總成本，儘管利率環境高，但兩者都隨著時間的推移繼續下降，實際上現在與美聯儲的基準利率一樣低。我們的平均利潤率現在從 2022 年初的 4.6% 降至略高於 3%。

On the bottom left, you can see the development over time of our leverage profile on the basis of net debt adjusted for working capital to adjusted EBITDA from 8.4x at the end of 2018 to now 2x at the end of 2022.

在左下角，您可以看到我們的槓桿率隨時間的變化，基於根據營運資金調整後的淨債務調整後的 EBITDA，從 2018 年底的 8.4 倍到 2022 年底的 2 倍。

With that, I will turn the call over to Tom.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給湯姆。

Thanks, Tassos. As usual, and for the benefit of listeners who are new to GSL, Slide 11 is intended to highlight the ship sizes on which our business is focused, which will help put the subsequent slides in context. GSL is focused on midsized and smaller ships, which is shorthand for ships ranging from about 2,000 TEU up to about 10,000 TEU, which is effectively the liquid charter market. The top map on the left shows the deployment of "our sizes of ship", i.e., ships under 10,000 TEU and emphasizes their operational flexibility, which is especially valuable in uncertain times. As you can see, they're deployed everywhere.

謝謝，塔索斯。與往常一樣，為了 GSL 新聽眾的利益，幻燈片 11 旨在突出我們業務所關注的船舶尺寸，這將有助於將後續幻燈片放在上下文中。 GSL 專注於中型和小型船舶，這是從約 2,000 TEU 到約 10,000 TEU 的船舶的簡寫，這實際上是流動的租船市場。左上方的地圖顯示了“我們的船舶尺寸”的部署，即 10,000 TEU 以下的船舶，並強調了它們的操作靈活性，這在不確定時期尤其有價值。如您所見，它們無處不在。

The bottom map on the other hand, were the big ships, i.e. those larger than 10,000 TEU are deployed which tends to be on the East-West Mainlane or arterial trades, where the cargo volumes and shoreside infrastructure can support them. And it's important to note that over 70%, 7-0 percent, of global containerized trade volumes, in fact, 72% in 2022 are moved outside the Mainlanes in the north-south regional and intermediate trades served predominantly by ships like ours rather than by the big ships.

另一方面，底部地圖是大型船舶，即部署了大於 10,000 TEU 的船舶，它們往往位於東西主幹道或主幹道上，貨運量和岸邊基礎設施可以支持它們。重要的是要注意，全球集裝箱貿易量的 70% 以上，7-0%，事實上，2022 年有 72% 被轉移到主要由像我們這樣的船舶而不是由大船。

As George touched on in his opening remarks, the macro and geopolitical outlook that we're all currently facing remains challenging and uncertain. Unsurprisingly, given the Russia-Ukraine conflict, substantial inflation and negative consumer sentiment, global containerized trade volumes are estimated to have fallen year-on-year in 2022 by a little over 1%, marking only the third year of negative growth in the industry's 60-plus year history. However, to offset the bearish tone of that statistic, the comparison year of 2021 was one of extraordinary growth, driven by peak COVID consumption habits.

正如喬治在開場白中提到的那樣，我們目前面臨的宏觀和地緣政治前景仍然充滿挑戰和不確定性。不出所料，考慮到俄烏衝突、嚴重的通貨膨脹和消極的消費者情緒，預計 2022 年全球集裝箱貿易量同比下降略高於 1%，標誌著該行業的貿易量連續第三年出現負增長。 60多年的歷史。然而，為了抵消該統計數據的悲觀基調，比較年 2021 年是在 COVID 消費習慣高峰期推動下實現非凡增長的一年。

Anyway, our crystal ball is no better than anyone else's on how the force is driving consumption and thus containerized demand will play out in 2023 and beyond. So as usual, we prefer to focus on the supply side, where we do have forward visibility and against which investors and others can set containerized trade or GDP growth projections as they feel appropriate.

無論如何，我們的水晶球並不比任何人都知道這種力量如何推動消費，因此集裝箱化需求將在 2023 年及以後發揮作用。因此，與往常一樣，我們更願意關注供應方面，我們在這方面確實具有前瞻性，投資者和其他人可以據此設定他們認為合適的集裝箱貿易或 GDP 增長預測。

Slide 12 then shows the metrics that tend to be used as a measure of supply-side tension. The top chart shows idle capacity, which at year-end was around 1.9%, which is slightly up on where it had been for the preceding 18 months or so. Idle capacity incidentally has since risen further, reaching around 3.3% in late February of this year.

然後幻燈片 12 顯示了通常用作衡量供應方緊張程度的指標。上圖顯示閒置產能，年底約為 1.9%，略高於前 18 個月左右的水平。順便提一下，此後閒置產能進一步上升，在今年 2 月下旬達到 3.3% 左右。

The bottom chart tells a similar story of exceptionally tight supply through 2021 and 2022. Containership recycling, scrapping was very limited in 2021 and almost nonexistent in 2022 when fewer than 4,000 TEU of capacity was scrapped out. I would note, however, that scrapping activity is now beginning to pick up a bit and should rate normalization continue, the deferred scrapping of the last 2 years or so would imply a sizable segment of lower specification, older ships in the global fleet that would in, again, "normal conditions" be expected to be retired.

底部圖表講述了一個類似的故事，即到 2021 年和 2022 年供應異常緊張。2021 年集裝箱船回收、報廢非常有限，到 2022 年幾乎不存在，報廢的運力不到 4,000 TEU。然而，我要指出的是，拆船活動現在開始有所回升，如果費率正常化繼續下去，過去兩年左右的推遲拆船將意味著全球船隊中有相當一部分規格較低、老舊的船舶將同樣，在“正常情況下”預計將退役。

Let's turn to Slide 13, which looks at the order book. Here, you can see on the left, the composition of the order book by size segment, covering all deliveries currently scheduled to take place not only this year in 2023 but also in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The overall order book-to-fleet ratio as at December 31, 2022, was 29.4%. However, it continues to be heavily skewed towards the bigger ships, over 10,000 TEU, for which the ratio is 51.8%. Meanwhile, our focus segments of 2,000 to 10,000 TEU highlighted in the red box have a significantly lower ratio of a little over 14%, 1-4 percent.

讓我們轉到幻燈片 13，它查看訂單。在這裡，您可以在左側看到按尺寸細分的訂單構成，涵蓋目前計劃在 2023 年以及 2024 年、2025 年和 2026 年進行的所有交付。總體訂單到船隊截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的比率為 29.4%。然而，它繼續嚴重偏向更大的船舶，超過 10,000 TEU，這一比例為 51.8%。與此同時，我們以紅框突出顯示的 2,000 至 10,000 TEU 的重點部分的比例明顯較低，略高於 14%，1-4%。

And there are 2 important points to keep in mind when assessing the order book. One, that the relevant metric here is the net change to the absolute size of the fleet. That is the deliveries minus prospective scrappings; and two, that when we talk about the supply of ships in the global fleet, we're ultimately using that as a shorthand for how those ships are actually used, how many boxes can be moved over a given distance, over a given time frame and slowing the speed of container ships within the system decreases effective supply and vice versa.

在評估訂單簿時，有兩點需要牢記。第一，這裡的相關指標是船隊絕對規模的淨變化。那是交付量減去預期報廢；第二，當我們談論全球船隊中的船舶供應時，我們最終將其用作這些船舶實際使用方式的簡寫，即在給定時間範圍內可以在給定距離內移動多少箱子降低系統內集裝箱船的速度會減少有效供應，反之亦然。

On the first point, the midsized and smaller containership fleet is aging. As you can see from the chart on the right, if scrapping were to continue to be deferred by the end of 2026, which is the delivery horizon of the existing order book, a substantial slice of the sub-10,000 TEU capacity on the water, almost 2 million TEUs worth would be at least 25 years old and potential candidates for the recycling yards in a softening market. However, if you net this out against the total order book of sub-10,000 TEU vessels due to be delivered over the same period, you would get implied net growth in these sizes of just 1.1%, which itself would be spread out over the coming 3 or 4 years. By the way, performing the same exercise for 2023 in isolation would imply a net 1.3% reduction of sub-10,000 TEU fleet capacity.

關於第一點，中小型集裝箱船隊正在老化。從右圖可以看出，如果拆船繼續推遲到 2026 年底，這是現有訂單的交付期限，水上 10,000 標準箱以下運力的很大一部分，價值近 200 萬個標準箱至少有 25 年的歷史，並且是軟化市場中回收場的潛在候選者。然而，如果將其與同期交付的 10,000 標準箱以下船舶的總訂單相減，您將得到這些尺寸的隱含淨增長僅為 1.1%，這本身將在未來分攤3 或 4 年。順便說一句，單獨在 2023 年進行相同的練習意味著 10,000 TEU 以下的船隊運力淨減少 1.3%。

On the second point, 2023 marks the implementation of new decarbonization regulations from January 1, 2023, which, according to broad industry consensus is expected to cause a slowing down of the global fleet to reduce emissions, reducing effective supply. The year is still young, and the implementation of the relevant rule is gradual and titans over time, but we have already seen the operating speed of our fleet reduced by around about 8% versus the same period in 2022, and I'll come back to this in a couple of slides' time.

第二點，2023年標誌著脫碳新規從2023年1月1日開始實施，根據廣泛的行業共識，預計這將導致全球船隊減排速度放緩，有效供給減少。歲月未至，相關規則的實施是循序漸進的，隨著時間的推移，我們已經看到我們機隊的運行速度比2022年同期下降了約8%左右，我會回來的在幾張幻燈片的時間裡。

In the meantime, let's look at Slide 14, the charter market. As you can see from the chart, the charter market continued its spectacular rise through the first few months of 2022, plateaued through the second quarter and much of the third and then fell sharply. Furthermore, charter durations are currently shortening with recent fixtures of only a few months to a year or so at best. And the forward fixture market is effectively on hold.

與此同時，讓我們看看幻燈片 14，包機市場。從圖表中可以看出，包機市場在 2022 年前幾個月繼續保持驚人的增長，在第二季度和第三季度的大部分時間裡趨於平穩，然後急劇下跌。此外，租期目前正在縮短，最近的租期最多只有幾個月到一年左右。而遠期固定裝置市場實際上處於停滯狀態。

Having said all that, availability of ships in the charter market remains comparatively limited, especially for larger sizes as nearly all of the ships that would ordinarily have come into the market in recent months had already been forward fixed or extended before coming open. So hard representative data is still a bit thin, but few would dispute that a normalization of charter rates and logically also of asset values is currently in progress.

話雖如此，租船市場上的船舶供應仍然相對有限，尤其是對於較大尺寸的船舶，因為近幾個月通常會進入市場的幾乎所有船舶在開放前都已經進行了遠期固定或延期。如此硬的代表性數據仍然有點薄弱，但很少有人會質疑目前正在進行的租船費率正常化和資產價值正常化。

And that's a neat segue to Slide 15, which provides an update on decarbonization, which is expected to have a favorable impact for our charter owners on supply side fundamentals over time. Working through the slide. In the top box is a snapshot of the evolving regulatory environment. This is by no means an exhaustive list, by the way. It admits, for example, the ever tightening regulations in California. Nevertheless, it addresses the regulations which are most imminent, broadest in their application and on which there is currently most clarity.

這是幻燈片 15 的一個巧妙的轉折點，它提供了脫碳的最新情況，隨著時間的推移，預計這將對我們的租船所有者在供應方基本面方面產生有利影響。通過幻燈片工作。頂部方框是不斷變化的監管環境的快照。順便說一下，這絕不是一個詳盡的清單。例如，它承認加利福尼亞州不斷收緊的法規。然而，它解決了最緊迫、應用最廣泛且目前最明確的法規。

Let's start with EEXI, the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index. This is tied to ship's technical characteristics and is binary in nature, pass or fail. A non-EEXI-compliant ship will not be permitted to trade past its first annual IAPP survey, which is an air pollution survey after January 1, 2023.

讓我們從現有船舶能效指數 EEXI 開始。這與船舶的技術特性有關，本質上是二元的，通過或失敗。不符合 EEXI 標準的船舶將不允許在其第一次年度 IAPP 調查之後進行貿易，這是 2023 年 1 月 1 日之後的空氣污染調查。

Next is CII, the Carbon Intensity Indicator. This is an operating measure and is to be determined annually on a backward-looking basis by the ship's actual operating performance. CII is calculated as a function of actual CO2 emissions divided by vessel deadweight times distance traveled. The first assessments will be performed in 2024 based on 2023 data with CII ratings ranging from A to E. E-rated ships, although is rated D for the first 3 years in a row will require corrective action. And it's worth noting that CII parameters will tighten progressively over time.

接下來是 CII，即碳強度指標。這是一項運營措施，每年根據船舶的實際運營業績在回顧基礎上確定。 CII 計算為實際二氧化碳排放量除以船舶載重量乘以行駛距離的函數。第一次評估將在 2024 年根據 2023 年的數據進行，CII 評級從 A 到 E。E 級船舶雖然連續前 3 年被評為 D 級，但仍需要採取糾正措施。值得注意的是，CII 參數會隨著時間的推移逐漸收緊。

Next up is EU ETS, the European Union Emissions Trading System. This will attribute a cost to greenhouse gas emissions from ships trading to, from or within the EU. Phase-in is scheduled to begin in 2024, but detailed regulatory guidelines have yet to be published.

接下來是 EU ETS，即歐盟排放交易系統。這將對進出歐盟或在歐盟內部貿易的船舶的溫室氣體排放產生成本。分階段實施計劃於 2024 年開始，但詳細的監管指南尚未公佈。

In the next box, we have laid out some of the high-level implications of decarbonization regulations expected for the global containership fleet. These are reduced operating speeds to reduce emissions. Vessel operating speed has a disproportionate impact on CO2 emissions as the relationship between speed and fuel consumption and the emissions is logarithmic. An important byproduct, as we've already mentioned, of slowing the global fleet down is a reduction in effective supply. And to put this in context, a reduction in average operating speed of 1 knot is estimated to reduce effective supply by around about 6%.

在下一個專欄中，我們列出了預計對全球集裝箱船隊的脫碳法規的一些高層影響。這些都是降低運行速度以減少排放。船舶運行速度對二氧化碳排放量的影響不成比例，因為速度和燃料消耗與排放量之間的關係是對數關係。正如我們已經提到的，全球船隊減速的一個重要副產品是有效供應的減少。綜上所述，平均運行速度降低 1 節估計會使有效供應減少約 6%。

Vessel operations will be optimized for the CII algorithm and ratings. In addition to slowing ships down, efforts will be made to improve their operational efficiency. So an overall smoothing of operations and increased incentive to utilize well-specified, fuel-efficient and well-maintained vessels.

船舶運營將針對 CII 算法和評級進行優化。除了減慢船舶速度外，還將努力提高其運營效率。因此，運營總體平穩，並增加了使用規格齊全、省油且維護良好的船隻的動力。

Increasing investments will be made in energy-saving technologies and retrofits in developing clean or at least cleaner fuels and propulsion and in carbon capture and mitigation technologies.

將增加對節能技術和改造的投資，以開發清潔或至少更清潔的燃料和推進以及碳捕獲和減緩技術。

So what are the actions we GSL, are taking to preserve and improve the commercial positioning and trading flexibility of our fleet in a decarbonizing world? Our first priority, naturally enough, is to ensure regulatory compliance. For EEXI this is relatively straightforward. Where needed, we're installing engine power limiters, EPLs on our ships at a cost of just under $100,000 per ship, which will ensure compliance.

那麼我們 GSL 正在採取哪些行動來保持和改善我們船隊在脫碳世界中的商業定位和貿易靈活性？我們的首要任務自然是確保合規性。對於 EEXI，這相對簡單。在需要的地方，我們以每艘船不到 100,000 美元的成本在我們的船上安裝發動機功率限制器 EPL，這將確保合規性。

CII is a bit more complex as it's determined not only by the inherent efficiency of the underlying ship, but also actually primarily in truth by how the ship is operated by the charterer. Consequently, we're applying technologies and protocols to enhance cooperation between owners and charterers to facilitate CII-optimized vessel operations. Indeed, cooperation and partnership between owners and operators will be key to successful decarbonization. We're well positioned in this respect as a partnership approach with our charterers has long underpinned the GSL business model.

CII 有點複雜，因為它不僅取決於基礎船舶的固有效率，而且實際上主要取決於承租人如何操作船舶。因此，我們正在應用技術和協議來加強船東和承租人之間的合作，以促進 CII 優化的船舶運營。事實上，業主和運營商之間的合作與夥伴關係將是成功脫碳的關鍵。我們在這方面處於有利地位，因為與租船人的合作方式長期以來一直是 GSL 商業模式的基礎。

Consistent with this approach, we're also retrofitting energy saving technologies or ESTs, to our ships, subject to commercial agreement and in cooperation with the charterers. These agreements are commercially sensitive and vary on a case-by-case basis. But the underlying rationale is that we will only invest in discretionary ESTs that will enhance the value and the earnings of the corresponding ship. So that's the crux of it. But for those of you who would like to know more, may I refer you to the Climate Strategy section of our latest ESG report, which is available on our corporate website.

與這種方法一致，我們還根據商業協議並與承租人合作，對我們的船舶進行節能技術或 EST 改造。這些協議具有商業敏感性，並視具體情況而定。但基本原理是，我們只會投資於可提高相應船舶價值和收益的可自由支配的 EST。這就是問題的癥結所在。但對於那些想了解更多信息的人，我可以向您推薦我們最新的 ESG 報告的氣候戰略部分，該報告可在我們的公司網站上找到。

And with that, I'll turn the call now back to George to wrap up.

有了這個，我現在會把電話轉回給喬治結束。

Thank you, Tom. I will provide a brief summary on Slide 16, and then we will be happy to take your questions.

謝謝你，湯姆。我將對幻燈片 16 進行簡要總結，然後我們很樂意回答您的問題。

Our $2.1 billion of contract cover over the next 2.7 years ensures that our debt service, CapEx and dividend through 2024 are already fully covered without any need for additional charter renewals.

我們在未來 2.7 年的 21 億美元合同保障範圍確保我們到 2024 年的償債、資本支出和股息已經完全涵蓋，無需額外續約。

We have built a very strong balance sheet and are rated BB Stable and B1 Positive by Standard & Poor's and Moody's, respectively. We have proven diversified access to capital and a very attractive and competitive cost of debt with a floating rate exposure fully hedged.

我們的資產負債表非常強勁，分別被標準普爾和穆迪評為 BB 穩定和 B1 正面。事實證明，我們獲得資本的渠道多元化，債務成本極具吸引力和競爭力，浮動利率敞口已完全對沖。

We have a high-quality fleet in the sweet spot of the market, high-reefer midsized Post-Panamax and smaller container ships that play a critical role for our liner customers. Idle capacity remains relatively low in the global fleet, though it is beginning to creep upward. Meanwhile, a large backlog of older scrapping candidates in the global fleet is only just starting to be recycled after an extended period with essentially zero deletions. Because of this dynamic and the disproportionate skew of investments towards the very larger ships, we expect net fleet growth in our fleet sizes to be negligible and perhaps even negative on an effective basis over the next few years.

我們在市場的最佳位置擁有一支高質量的船隊，高冷藏中型後巴拿馬型和小型集裝箱船對我們的班輪客戶發揮著至關重要的作用。閒置運力在全球船隊中仍然相對較低，但已開始攀升。與此同時，全球船隊中大量積壓的舊報廢候選者在經歷了一段基本上為零刪除的長時間後才剛剛開始回收。由於這種動態和對超大型船舶的投資不成比例的傾斜，我們預計未來幾年我們船隊規模的淨船隊增長可以忽略不計，甚至可能是負增長。

There's no question that macro headwinds and negative sentiment are causing a market normalization from the extraordinary conditions of the last 2 years and charter market fixtures are increasingly shorter term and tactical in nature for the slim subset of the global fleet that has recently come into the charter market. Now to illustrate this, since October 1, 2022, we have had 4 charter fixtures, representing aggregate revenues of a little under $22 million and ranging between 4 to 16 months with an average of 10 months. That's a significant turnaround from earlier in 2022 when rates were elevated and fixtures often multiyear.

毫無疑問，宏觀逆風和負面情緒正在導致市場從過去兩年的異常情況中恢復正常，而對於最近簽訂包機的全球機隊中的一小部分，包機市場的固定期限和戰術性質越來越短市場。現在來說明這一點，自 2022 年 10 月 1 日以來，我們有 4 個包租固定裝置，代表總收入略低於 2200 萬美元，時間在 4 到 16 個月之間，平均 10 個月。與 2022 年初相比，這是一個重大轉變，當時利率上升，固定裝置通常是多年。

Finally, our capital allocation is focused on resilience throughout the cycle while remaining nimble enough to capitalize on opportunities to build and maximize long-term value for shareholders through well-timed acquisitions and contracting on a long-term basis, whenever possible, we are well positioned to sustain there is a step change in our earnings. Our dividend is both attractive and most importantly, sustainable. We have actively utilized our share repurchase program. And we continue to build cash liquidity for resilience to proactively address the challenges and opportunities of decarbonization and to ensure that we are in a position to be opportunistic and disciplined acquirers of ships for the right combination of immediate accretion, low downside risk and high upside potential.

最後，我們的資本配置側重於整個週期的彈性，同時盡可能靈活地利用機會，通過適時的收購和長期承包，為股東創造和最大化長期價值，我們很好定位於維持我們收入的階躍變化。我們的紅利既有吸引力，最重要的是可持續。我們積極利用我們的股票回購計劃。我們繼續建立現金流動性以增強彈性，以積極應對脫碳的挑戰和機遇，並確保我們能夠成為機會主義和紀律嚴明的船舶收購方，以實現即時增值、低下行風險和高上行潛力的正確組合.

With that, we'll be happy to take your questions.

這樣，我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Amit Mehrotra from Deutsche Bank.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Amit Mehrotra。

This is Chris Robertson on for Amit. Yes. I mean I think you guys have laid out really well here, just the resiliency in the earnings with your time charters here. So one of the questions that we often get here is on the renegotiation risk from the liner side, which was seen in kind of previous cycles, but could you kind of compare and contrast where the liners sit now in terms of their cash balances and resiliency and kind of like the willingness that they would actually renegotiate? And I mean, it's not like you guys have booked at the very top of the market here. So I don't think that your rates are really at risk, but could you kind of [sway] some of the fears that are out there?

這是阿米特的克里斯羅伯遜。是的。我的意思是，我認為你們在這裡的佈局非常好，只是你們的定期租船收入的彈性。因此，我們經常在這裡遇到的一個問題是班輪方的重新談判風險，這在之前的周期中已經出現過，但你能否比較一下班輪公司現在在現金餘額和彈性方面的位置有點像他們實際上會重新談判的意願？我的意思是，這不像你們在這裡的市場頂端預訂。所以我不認為你的利率真的有風險，但你能有點 [搖擺] 那裡的一些恐懼嗎？

All right. Chris, let me start by the same opinion, then Tom can jump in as well. The previous times, the financial situation of our counterparty (inaudible) charters were completely different than today's. They are today in the best shape they have ever been since the inception of containerization, I would say. So that's one positive.

好的。克里斯，讓我從同樣的觀點開始，然後湯姆也可以加入。以前，我們的交易對手（聽不清）包機的財務狀況與今天完全不同。我想說，它們今天處於容器化開始以來的最佳狀態。所以這是積極的。

Second is that in general, in our industry, the top names do not tend to renegotiate and they haven't done so in the past even in the most difficult situations like 2009, when the financial crisis broke out. Still, there were no renegotiations from the first-class counterparties. Of course, as in every market, there is first class, second glass, third class. So far, we have seen some third class names going back up and not performing. But we haven't got any such names in our -- let's say, charters. And we don't feel that such a thing would be there.

其次，一般來說，在我們的行業中，頂級公司不傾向於重新談判，他們過去也沒有這樣做過，即使是在最困難的情況下，比如 2009 年金融危機爆發時。儘管如此，一流的交易對手沒有重新談判。當然，在每個市場，都有頭等艙、二等艙和三等艙。到目前為止，我們已經看到一些三流名稱回升但表現不佳。但我們在我們的章程中沒有任何這樣的名字。而且我們不認為會有這樣的東西存在。

Now having said that, although we do not expect any renegotiations, sometimes it's commercially viable and it's commercially better for -- it's a win-win as the Chinese say for both to amend and extend. Sometimes charters and owners agree to reduce the charter rate and elongate the charter period. And that is not renegotiation. That is something that both parties might agree for the mutual benefit. So we should not confuse these kind of transactions with charter negotiations.

話雖如此，儘管我們不希望進行任何重新談判，但有時它在商業上是可行的，而且在商業上更好——正如中國人所說的那樣，修改和擴展是雙贏的。有時，租船人和船東同意降低租金並延長租期。那不是重新談判。這是雙方可能為了互利而同意的事情。因此，我們不應將此類交易與租船談判混為一談。

I will let Tom get into that more.

我會讓湯姆更多地參與其中。

Yes. Thanks, George. I would just echo those words. And Chris, I would say that GSL when we took the company public, back in 2008, shortly before Lehman Brothers went bust in the world, went into a sort of synchronized global downturn, global financial crisis, and during the whole of our history, all of our charters have performed and there haven't been renegotiations of any sort other than, as George said, selectively, on a bilateral basis where it's suited both parties to do so, and we've never had a bad debt. So I think the business model has been quite well stress tested.

是的。謝謝，喬治。我只是回應那些話。克里斯，我想說的是，當我們將公司上市時，GSL 早在 2008 年，就在雷曼兄弟 (Lehman Brothers) 世界破產之前不久，進入了一種同步的全球衰退、全球金融危機，在我們的整個歷史中，我們所有的章程都已執行，並且沒有進行任何形式的重新談判，除了正如喬治所說的那樣，有選擇地在雙方都適合的雙邊基礎上進行談判，而且我們從未有過壞賬。所以我認為商業模式已經過很好的壓力測試。

Yes, I definitely think the history of the company speaks for itself there. Just a follow-up question. You guys spent quite a bit of time talking about the older end of the fleet spectrum here with possibility of scrapping. Can you talk about just the types of owners that generally have these vessels that are 25-year plus? What type of owners are they? What type of segments do they generally operate in? As the fleet slows down and maybe helps put stabilizing pressure on rates, do you think they'll still have an incentive to keep these things going as long as possible? Or regardless of that slow steaming, is it just time for these ships to leave the fleet?

是的，我絕對認為公司的歷史在那裡不言自明。只是一個後續問題。你們在這里花了很多時間討論艦隊頻譜的老一端以及報廢的可能性。您能談談通常擁有這些船齡超過 25 年的船主的類型嗎？他們是什麼類型的業主？他們通常在什麼類型的細分市場中運營？隨著船隊減速並可能有助於對利率施加穩定壓力，您認為他們是否仍然有動力盡可能長時間地保持這些事情？還是不管那緩慢的航行，這些船隻離開艦隊的時間剛剛好？

Sure. I'll have a crack at that, and I'm sure George will also have some thoughts. We used to provide a slide and sadly, it's not included here that shows the -- the age profile of the global fleet by size segment. And as a general rule, the smaller the ships in a size segment, the older they are. So if you look at the very smallest chip sizes, the average age of those segments tends to be higher than that for the larger size is simply, because of the upsizing of the fleet over time. Now what tends to be a catalyst for scrapping ships out is if owners are confronted by the need to put more money into them to keep them going.

當然。我會嘗試一下，我相信喬治也會有一些想法。我們過去常常提供一張幻燈片，遺憾的是，這裡沒有顯示——按規模劃分的全球船隊的年齡概況。一般來說，同一個尺寸段中的船隻越小，它們的年齡就越大。因此，如果您查看最小的芯片尺寸，這些細分市場的平均年齡往往高於較大尺寸的平均年齡，這很簡單，因為隨著時間的推移，車隊規模不斷擴大。現在，如果船東面臨需要向其投入更多資金以維持其運轉，則往往會成為拆船的催化劑。

So as you know, Chris, every 5 years or so, there's a regulatory dry docking that ships are obliged to go through, and those can cost anywhere between $1.5 million to, say, $3 million depending upon the size of the ship, the age of the ship, the spec of the ship, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So when you are approaching such an investment, that tends to be a catalyst for either saying, okay, we can see good earnings potential for this vessel size going forward, so we will invest or we don't, in which case we will potentially scrap the ship out. So it's a fairly rational economically driven decision.

因此，正如你所知，克里斯，每隔 5 年左右，船舶必須經過監管幹船塢，這些費用可能在 150 萬美元到 300 萬美元之間，具體取決於船舶的大小、船齡船的規格，船的規格，等等，等等，等等。因此，當您進行此類投資時，這往往會促使您說，好吧，我們可以看到這種船舶尺寸未來的良好盈利潛力，所以我們將投資或不投資，在這種情況下，我們可能會把船報廢。所以這是一個相當理性的經濟驅動決定。

If I may add one point that is interesting for the audience to know. The scrapping of scrap metal comes at 1/3 of CO2 emissions versus new iron ore -- new steel. So it's more environmentally friendly with respect to certain emissions to use scrap steel than the classical brand new ship -- brand new steel. That, in my mind, could keep scrap prices high in the long term, and the higher scrap prices are, the more attractive it becomes for owners to scrap their ships of the older vessels.

如果我可以補充一點，讓聽眾知道這一點很有趣。廢金屬報廢產生的二氧化碳排放量是新鐵礦石（新鋼）的 1/3。因此，就某些排放而言，使用廢鋼比經典的全新船舶——全新鋼更環保。在我看來，從長遠來看，這可能會使廢鋼價格保持高位，而廢鋼價格越高，船東拆解舊船的吸引力就越大。

Our next question comes from Liam Burke from B. Riley.

我們的下一個問題來自 B. Riley 的 Liam Burke。

You've got 92% -- 93% of your charters locked in for 2023. Are there any discussions with the other 8% of your fleet to move off the spot market and negotiate as you pointed out, shorter but multi-month contracts?

你有 92% - 93% 的租船合同鎖定在 2023 年。是否與其他 8% 的船隊進行了任何討論，以脫離現貨市場並如你所指出的那樣談判更短但多月的合同？

Yes. We're always in discussion with our charters, the possibility to fix our ships. And we always try to get the longest possible period as you have seen over the past couple of years. It's not like there is no demand, there is demand, of course. And there is ongoing charters. And then as we have mentioned, since last earnings call, we fixed 4 ships. Those were the 4 ships coming up and -- but what happens right now is that charters are waiting a little bit closer to the -- when the ships are becoming open to charter them was before you could forward fixed ships, so you could forward fix a ship to this year that was going to be open next year and we've been doing that.

是的。我們一直在討論我們的租船合同，討論修理我們船隻的可能性。正如您在過去幾年中看到的那樣，我們總是試圖獲得盡可能長的期限。不是沒有需求，當然是有需求。並且有正在進行的章程。然後正如我們所提到的，自上次財報電話會議以來，我們修復了 4 艘船。那些是即將到來的 4 艘船 - 但現在發生的事情是包機正在等待更接近 - 當這些船開放租用它們之前你可以轉發固定船，所以你可以轉發固定今年將在明年開放的一艘船，我們一直在這樣做。

As the market stands now, charters wait for like 2, 3 months before the charter expiration to enter into discussions for renewals of charters. And that's because they want to see themselves also what's their demand from their clients and the shippers and so on and so forth.

按照目前的市場情況，租約會在租約到期前等待大約 2、3 個月才能開始討論續約。那是因為他們也想看看自己對客戶和托運人等的需求是什麼。

Great. And on your utilization rates, I mean, it obviously bounces around with drydocking and then unscheduled off-hire. How are you looking at utilization rates as we move into '23? Is there anything -- I mean, you gave us a drydocking schedule. But is there any thought on the unscheduled part of the utilization?

偉大的。關於你的利用率，我的意思是，它顯然會隨著幹塢和計劃外停租而反彈。隨著我們進入 23 世紀，您如何看待利用率？有什麼 - 我的意思是，你給了我們一個乾船塢時間表。但有沒有想過計劃外的部分利用？

Not really. This is Ian. It's unpredictable. These accidents and breakdowns machinery failures or whatever. And by their very nature, we can't forecast what they'll be.

並不真地。這是伊恩。這是不可預測的。這些事故和故障機械故障或其他什麼。就其本質而言，我們無法預測它們會是什麼。

Right. But is it -- I mean you do have older ships, and that's part of your strategy. But as that -- I mean does that tie into the unscheduled off hire?

正確的。但它是——我的意思是你確實有老船，這是你戰略的一部分。但就此而言——我的意思是這是否與計劃外的停租有關？

No, not necessarily. It's a question of how well the ships are maintained, and we believe that we maintain our ships to a very high standard. But accidents do happen, stuff does break, but I wouldn't say that an older ship is inherently more susceptible to significant off higher than a new ship -- unplanned off hire.

不，不一定。這是一個關於船隻維護得如何的問題，我們相信我們以非常高的標準維護我們的船隻。但是事故確實發生了，東西確實壞了，但我不會說舊船天生就比新船更容易受到重大影響 - 計劃外停租。

Our next question comes from Omar Nokta from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Omar Nokta。

I wanted to just ask about the balance sheet and how you guys are seeing it evolve here. You've obviously got a very nice backlog of just over $2 billion, gives you that a nice stream of cash over the next several years. And I think if you just throw in some conservative assumptions on vessels that roll off higher here in the next few years, there's a real shot that GSL could get into a net cash position within, say, the next 3 years. I guess, one, do you agree with that type of math, but GSL is on that trajectory to become debt free here in the next couple of, call it, say, 3 years? And then two, is that an aim for you guys to get GSL into a net cash position? Or do you see yourselves investing along the way?

我只想問一下資產負債表以及你們如何看待它在這裡的演變。你顯然有超過 20 億美元的非常好的積壓，在接下來的幾年裡給你帶來可觀的現金流。而且我認為，如果你只是對未來幾年在這裡走高的船舶進行一些保守的假設，那麼 GSL 很有可能在未來 3 年內進入淨現金頭寸。我想，第一，你是否同意這種類型的數學，但 GSL 正沿著這條軌道在接下來的幾年內在這裡成為無債務的人，比如說，3 年？然後兩個，你們的目標是讓 GSL 進入淨現金狀態嗎？還是您看到自己一路投資？

Omar, this is Tom. I mean yes, we're building cash, and we see delevering as an important part of derisking, but I don't think we would ever look to be debt free. But we do see ourselves as entering an interesting point in the cycle, just as George said in his prepared remarks, where asset values are coming off, and thus the potential to make accretive acquisitions is increased at a far more attractive risk, i.e., lower risk profile than was possible during the 18 months of the sort of the super cycle when, of course, we didn't make any acquisitions at all. So yes, we're in this business for the long term, and we see making accretive acquisitions as being core to running the business going forward, but always on a selective and highly disciplined basis as we've done in the past.

奧馬爾，這是湯姆。我的意思是，是的，我們正在積累現金，我們將去槓桿化視為去風險化的重要組成部分，但我認為我們永遠不會希望沒有債務。但我們確實認為自己進入了周期中一個有趣的點，正如喬治在他準備好的發言中所說的那樣，資產價值正在下降，因此進行增值收購的潛力在更具吸引力的風險下增加，即更低風險狀況比在那種超級週期的 18 個月期間可能發生的情況要高，當然，我們根本沒有進行任何收購。所以是的，我們長期從事這項業務，我們認為進行增值收購是未來經營業務的核心，但總是像我們過去所做的那樣，在選擇性和高度紀律的基礎上進行。

And if I may add to that, in combination with building cash as to have resilience for the market that is coming. We -- companies need to have some minimum cash aside for all sorts and purposes to make sure that anything that comes along can be handled. And I'm not talking about just bank ships, but also to have some working capital requirements and some cash resilience for any kind of need in a difficult market.

如果我可以補充一點，結合積累現金，為即將到來的市場提供彈性。我們 - 公司需要為各種目的預留一些最低限度的現金，以確保可以處理任何出現的事情。我說的不僅僅是銀行船，還有一些營運資金要求和一些現金彈性，以滿足困難市場中的任何需求。

In compliance with new regulations, it's -- may held it also.

根據新規定，它也可能持有它。

Well, that's interesting. And I guess, I think it was in response maybe to Chris' question about the liners, I mean it is definitely a very interesting setup at this point. You're talking about cash resiliency potential to be in a net cash position at assuming you do nothing, which you won't. But yes, we're definitely -- Tom, you mentioned the Lehman crisis shortly after you came public. I mean, yes, it looks like this downturn that we're seeing if this is indeed a downturn, both liners and the owners are in a much stronger cash position than they were back then. So I guess when we think about the capital that you've got and you want to put that to work, is there any segment of the industry that you want to be investing in when the time is right? Or is it more about just the transaction and whether it's accretive or not?

嗯，這很有趣。我想，我認為這可能是對克里斯關於襯墊的問題的回應，我的意思是在這一點上這絕對是一個非常有趣的設置。你在談論現金彈性潛力，假設你什麼都不做，但你不會這樣做。但是，是的，我們絕對是——湯姆，你在上市後不久就提到了雷曼危機。我的意思是，是的，看起來我們正在看到這種低迷是否真的是低迷，班輪公司和船東的現金狀況都比當時強得多。因此，我想當我們考慮您擁有的資本並且您想將其投入使用時，您是否希望在適當的時候投資該行業的任何部分？或者更多的是關於交易以及它是否增值？

Well, the first point that we always look at is risk. Every transaction we look at is viewed by us from a risk perspective. First of all, we do not want to take risk on board. We want to take the minimum. Then we want the transaction to be immediately accretive. So we want the cash to hit our balance sheet very quickly. So that means that as of today, we're looking at in this market because the market has not bottomed, the price of ships have not bottomed. We are looking at deals where we would have some kind of a charter together with it or we can put it right away into a charter, so we can ensure growth of our EBITDA and cash flow and be a deal that is accretive immediately.

好吧，我們始終關注的第一點是風險。我們看到的每筆交易都是從風險的角度來看待的。首先，我們不想在船上冒險。我們想要最少的。然後我們希望交易立即增值。所以我們希望現金能很快進入我們的資產負債表。所以這意味著截至今天，我們正在關注這個市場，因為市場尚未觸底，船舶價格尚未觸底。我們正在尋找可以與它一起制定某種章程的交易，或者我們可以立即將其放入章程中，這樣我們就可以確保 EBITDA 和現金流的增長，並成為一項立即增值的交易。

Now our sweet spot of ships, since we've said always, it's the Post-Panamax, this is what we like the most, let's say, without saying that the rest of the ships we don't like. But if you ask me what's my favorite, it's Post-Panamax, because these ships always offer the best economy of scale to the liner companies. And that's where we have been focusing always. But I would say that we're focusing on midsized ships between, let's say, 2,500 to 11,000 with more razor focus on the Post-Panamax, which is like 5,000 above. But again, it's deal by deal.

現在我們的船隻的最佳位置，因為我們一直說，它是後巴拿馬型，這是我們最喜歡的，可以說，不用說我們不喜歡的其他船隻。但如果你問我最喜歡什麼，那就是後巴拿馬型，因為這些船總是為班輪公司提供最好的規模經濟。這就是我們一直關注的地方。但我要說的是，我們關注的是 2,500 到 11,000 之間的中型船舶，而更多的關注點是後巴拿馬型，大約在 5,000 以上。但同樣，這是一筆一筆的交易。

Got it. And maybe just one final one. I think maybe for Tassos, you mentioned the cash position and the restricted part of it. And I think it was $118 million that is advanced charter hire that's been paid. Can you just remind us how much of that -- how much -- what does that constitute in terms of recognizing those revenues in the future?

知道了。也許只是最後一個。我想也許對於 Tassos，你提到了現金頭寸和其中的限制部分。我認為已經支付了 1.18 億美元的高級包機租金。你能否提醒我們，在未來確認這些收入方面，這有多少 - 多少 - 是什麼？

This has to do with the way we have initially recognized and received the money. And as far as I remember now, we are going to build up some more cash in that case, so we increase the deferred revenue until next year, the same period, and then this will start running through our revenue.

這與我們最初確認和收款的方式有關。據我現在所記得，在這種情況下，我們將積累更多現金，因此我們將遞延收入增加到明年同期，然後這將開始影響我們的收入。

Okay. So I just wanted to double check the $118 million, I think -- is that basically what you're going to be receiving in a year's time or will start within the next?

好的。所以我只是想仔細檢查一下這 1.18 億美元，我想——這基本上是你一年後會收到的還是會在下一年開始收到的？

If I may, we've already got it.

如果可以的話，我們已經拿到了。

Correct. Sorry, will start on (inaudible), correct.

正確的。抱歉，將從（聽不清）開始，正確。

We've collected the cash. And then the charterer will still pay a little bit more than the headline charter rate and that cash will build a bit. But then the charter starts paying less than the headline charter rate. And we start leaking if you want to use that word, advance receipt of cash through the income statement. That's the timing difference between recognizing revenue and receiving cash. That's all. Yes. And then it's also obviously very good sort of credit practice from our perspective as well.

我們已經收集了現金。然後承租人仍將支付比總體租船費多一點的錢，而現金會增加一點。但隨後包機費用開始低於總體包機費率。如果你想用這個詞，我們就開始洩露了，通過損益表預收現金。這就是確認收入和收到現金之間的時間差。就這樣。是的。從我們的角度來看，這顯然也是一種非常好的信用做法。

Absolutely. Yes. I just wanted to just make sure for modeling purposes, I'm not double counting the incoming revenue stream.

絕對地。是的。我只是想確保出於建模目的，我沒有重複計算收入流。

No, no, no. Just look at the charter rates in our tables and ignore the balance sheet.

不不不。只需查看我們表格中的租船費率，而忽略資產負債表。

You can a little bit -- just to assist you can a little bit match this [$100 million, let's say, $18 million] with the 2 lines, which are in our current liabilities and long-term liabilities, which refer to deferred revenue. Just to match a little bit the liability to offer the service.

你可以稍微 - 只是為了幫助你可以將這 [1 億美元，比如說 1800 萬美元] 與兩條線相匹配，它們在我們的流動負債和長期負債中，指的是遞延收入。只是為了稍微匹配提供服務的責任。

Yes. And the thing that we wanted to make clear, Omar, to everyone, particularly for modeling purposes, is that yes, we have a certain amount of cash on our balance sheet, which is always good news. But a very substantial slice of that is tied up either as prepaid charter hire, as we've just discussed or for other purposes. So there's not a huge amount there that's available as "free liquidity", let's say.

是的。奧馬爾，我們想向大家明確的一點是，尤其是出於建模目的，是的，我們的資產負債表上有一定數量的現金，這始終是個好消息。但是，正如我們剛剛討論的那樣，其中很大一部分與預付包機租金有關，或者用於其他目的。因此，比方說，那裡沒有大量可用作“自由流動性”的東西。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Climent Molins from Value Investor's Edge.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Value Investor's Edge 的 Climent Molins。

Following up on Omar's question regarding vessel acquisitions, do you have a preference for modern eco ships? Or are you agnostic in that regard and think that there is, let's say, a right price for all assets?

跟進 Omar 關於船舶收購的問題，您是否偏愛現代生態船舶？或者你在這方面是不可知論者，並且認為所有資產都有一個合適的價格？

I would say that we do not have a preference as long as the deal and the price is the right one. We are not set to opportunistically acquire ships yet without a charter. We don't feel that the prices have bottomed to the point that we would be buying ships even opportunistically. So, so far, at this level, at this point, we're looking at the combination of cash flow and acquisition price.

我會說，只要交易和價格合適，我們就沒有偏好。我們不會在沒有包機的情況下投機取巧。我們不認為價格已經觸底到我們甚至會機會主義地購買船隻的地步。所以，到目前為止，在這個水平上，在這一點上，我們正在研究現金流和收購價格的結合。

So in this respect, whether it's an eco-ship or an existing design, let's call it, an older design, whatever you want to call it. It's not that relevant as long as -- we're looking at ships that have either a good potential as a good spec always the top-tier specs, some maybe enhancements of their characteristics, maybe they have some modifications to make them more eco, eco-friendly. But more or less ships that can operate for in the foreseeable future very successfully.

所以在這方面，無論是生態船還是現有設計，我們都可以稱它為舊設計，隨便你怎麼稱呼它。它並不那麼重要，只要——我們正在尋找的船隻要么具有良好的潛力，要么是一個好的規格，總是頂級規格，一些可能會增強它們的特性，也許它們會進行一些修改以使其更環保，環保的。但或多或少的船舶可以在可預見的未來非常成功地運營。

And just to be clear, Climent, we're not talking about new buildings. We are talking about existing ships that could be acquired and would be immediately accretive to cash flows from the time of acquisition just as a sort of a parenthetical.

澄清一下，Climent，我們不是在談論新建築。我們談論的是現有船隻，這些船隻可以被收購，並且從收購之日起立即增加現金流量，就像一種附加說明。

Yes, that's helpful. I also wanted to ask about the CapEx related to energy savings and emissions reduction. Could you provide some commentary on the payback you are seeing on those investments?

是的，這很有幫助。我還想問一下節能減排相關的CapEx。您能否就這些投資的回報發表一些評論？

It's difficult because they vary a huge amount on a sort of deal-to-deal, charterer-to-charterer basis. But there is, I would say, almost invariably a commercial agreement with the charterer such that we're confident that whatever money goes into the ship, to enhance, it will be more than recovered either by way of an uplift in the value of the ship or by way of increased earnings or both.

這很困難，因為它們在交易到交易、租船人到租船人的基礎上差異很大。但是，我要說的是，幾乎總是與承租人達成商業協議，這樣我們就有信心，無論投入多少資金，無論是為了提高船舶價值，還是通過提高船舶價值來收回。船舶或通過增加收入或兩者兼而有之。

Makes sense. And final question for me. You've been clear you'd like to continue strengthening the balance sheet to withstand market volatility going forward. And I was wondering, how do you plan to balance this with additional shareholder returns?

說得通。我的最後一個問題。您已經明確表示希望繼續加強資產負債表以抵禦未來的市場波動。我想知道，你打算如何平衡這與額外的股東回報？

I'm sorry, Climent, I didn't understand the question. Would you mind repeating it?

對不起，克萊門特，我不明白這個問題。你介意重複一遍嗎？

Yes, right. My question was, how do you plan to balance additional deleveraging or strengthening the balance sheet with shareholder returns?

對，對。我的問題是，您打算如何平衡額外的去槓桿化或加強資產負債表與股東回報？

Well, if I may, -- it's part of that nimble capital allocation. We're always flexible. We always keep the various alternate uses of capital and review as we've demonstrated in the past, if we think it's appropriate to return capital to shareholders by way of buybacks, then we will do so. But as we said in our prepared remarks, we also in this time of macroeconomic uncertainty and potential opportunity for growth as some asset values normalize, we want to have an eye to potential for growth and therefore, build some liquidity not only for those opportunities, but just for good practice, good balance sheet management and resilience, as George, I think, mentioned in the prepared remarks.

好吧，如果可以的話——這是靈活資本配置的一部分。我們總是很靈活。正如我們過去所展示的那樣，我們始終保持資本的各種交替使用和審查，如果我們認為通過回購的方式向股東返還資本是合適的，那麼我們就會這樣做。但正如我們在準備好的發言中所說，我們也在這個宏觀經濟不確定性和潛在增長機會的時期，因為一些資產價值正常化，我們希望關注增長潛力，因此，不僅為這些機會建立一些流動性，但只是為了良好的實踐、良好的資產負債表管理和彈性，正如我認為喬治在準備好的發言中提到的那樣。

So we would hope that we would continue to allocate a certain portion of capital to buybacks, but we can't guarantee it depending upon what the alternate uses of capital may be from time to time. But we've demonstrated our willingness to do so over the past 18 months.

因此，我們希望我們會繼續分配一定比例的資金用於回購，但我們不能保證這一點，具體取決於資金不時的替代用途。但在過去的 18 個月裡，我們已經表明了這樣做的意願。

We have no further questions. I would like to turn the call back over to Ian Webber for closing remarks.

我們沒有其他問題了。我想將電話轉回 Ian Webber 以作結束語。

Thank you very much. Thanks, everybody, for listening. Thank you for your questions and your support. We look forward to giving you a further update in 3 months' time or so when we publish our first quarter 2023 earnings. Thank you.

非常感謝。謝謝大家的聆聽。感謝您的提問和支持。我們期待在 3 個月左右的時間內發布 2023 年第一季度收益時為您提供進一步的更新。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。