Global Ship Lease Inc (GSL) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Global Ship Lease Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加全球船舶租賃 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Ian Webber, Global Ship Lease CEO. Please go ahead.

我現在將會議交給 Global Ship Lease 執行長 Ian Webber 先生。請繼續。

Thank you very much. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Global Ship Lease's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. You can find the slides that accompany today's call and presentation on our website at www.globalshiplease.com.

非常感謝。大家早安。歡迎參加 Global Ship Lease 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。您可以在我們的網站 www.globalshiplease.com 上找到今天電話會議和簡報中附帶的幻燈片。

As usual, Slides 2 and 3 of our presentation remind you that today's call may include forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and assumptions and 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.

像往常一樣，我們簡報的幻燈片2 和幻燈片3 提醒您，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，並且就其性質而言，具有固有的不確定性且超出了公司的控制範圍。由於許多因素，包括幻燈片演示的安全港部分中描述的因素，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性聲明有重大差異。

We would also like to direct your attention to the Risk Factors section of our most recent annual report on our 2022 Form 20-F, which was filed earlier this year on March 23. You can find that form on our website or on 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. For 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, please refer to the earnings release that we issued this morning, which is also available on our website.

我們還希望您注意到我們最新年度報告 2022 年 20-F 表格中的風險因素部分，該表格於今年早些時候於 3 月 23 日提交。您可以在我們的網站或 SEC 上找到該表格。我們的所有聲明均符合我們向 SEC 提交的報告中揭露的這些內容和其他內容。我們不承擔任何更新前瞻性陳述的責任。有關我們將在本次電話會議中提及的非公認會計原則財務指標的調節表，以及根據公認會計原則計算和提出的最直接可比較指標的調節表，請參閱我們今天上午發布的收益報告，該報告也可以在我們的網站上找到。網站。

As usual, I'm joined today by our Executive Chairman, Georgios 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. And then Tassos, Tom and I will take you through our recent activity, the quarterly results and financials and the current market environment. After that, we'll be pleased to answer your questions.

像往常一樣，今天我們的執行主席 Georgios Youroukos 也加入了我的行列。我們的財務長 Tassos Psaropoulos；以及我們的首席商務長 Tom Lister。 George 將首先對 GSL 和我們的行業進行高級評論。然後，塔索斯、湯姆和我將向您介紹我們最近的活動、季度業績和財務狀況以及當前的市場環境。之後，我們將很樂意回答您的問題。

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

現在請轉到投影片 4。我會將電話轉給喬治。

Thank you, Ian. And good morning, afternoon or evening to all of you joining us today. In the third quarter, charter market activity continued to be muted as macro and geopolitical factors created significant uncertainty, and the global fleet remained largely fixed on previously agreed charters. Now against this backdrop, we have successfully rechartered our ships as they have come open, although market rates are softening and the charter durations available have shortened considerably, especially for smaller ships.

謝謝你，伊恩。祝今天加入我們的所有人早安、下午好或晚上好。第三季度，由於宏觀和地緣政治因素造成了巨大的不確定性，包機市場活動繼續低迷，全球船隊基本上仍固定在先前商定的包機上。現在，在這種背景下，我們已經成功地重新租用了已開業的船舶，儘管市場價格正在走軟，並且可用的租船期限已大大縮短，特別是對於小型船舶而言。

That said, we continue to benefit from our robust contract cover and forward visibility on cash flows. Our balance sheet remains strong with no debt refinancing requirements until 2026, and all our floating interest debt is hedged with an interest rate cap through 2026. We remain tightly focused on capital allocation and continue to pay an attractive and sustainable quarterly dividend that is well supported by our contracted cash flows.

也就是說，我們繼續受益於我們強大的合約保障和現金流的遠期可見度。我們的資產負債表仍然強勁，到2026 年為止沒有債務再融資要求，並且到2026 年我們所有的浮動利率債務都通過利率上限進行對沖。我們仍然密切關注資本配置，並繼續支付具有良好支持的有吸引力且可持續的季度股息透過我們的合約現金流量。

We have also continued to utilize our buyback authorization to repurchase our shares in the market on an opportunistic basis. We have demonstrated our ability to act on attractive acquisition opportunities when they meet our strict criteria. Just as importantly, we have also demonstrated that we will be patient, selective and tightly focused on long-term value creation in doing so. We expect that increasingly attractive acquisition opportunities may arise as the cycle plays out, and we intend to be ready to move quickly when the time comes maintaining our resilience in the interim.

我們也繼續利用回購授權在市場上機會主義地回購我們的股票。當有吸引力的收購機會符合我們嚴格的標準時，我們已經證明了我們有能力採取行動。同樣重要的是，我們還表明，在此過程中，我們將保持耐心、精挑細選，並密切關注長期價值創造。我們預計，隨著週期的結束，可能會出現越來越有吸引力的收購機會，並且我們打算在時機成熟時迅速採取行動，以保持我們在此期間的韌性。

With that, I'll turn the call back to Ian.

這樣，我會將電話轉回伊恩。

Thank you, George. Please turn to Slide 5. Here, we show the composition and extensive diversification of our charter base, which is spread across top-tier liner companies. As of September 30, 2023, we had approximately $1.8 billion in contracted revenue with an average remaining duration of 2.1 years. In the first 9 months of the year, we've signed 18 new charters or charter extensions, adding $225 million of contracted revenues.

謝謝你，喬治。請參閱投影片 5。在這裡，我們展示了我們的包機基礎的組成和廣泛的多元化，該基礎遍布頂級班輪公司。截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日，我們的合約收入約為 18 億美元，平均剩餘期限為 2.1 年。今年前 9 個月，我們簽署了 18 份新章程或延期章程，合約收入增加了 2.25 億美元。

Slide 6 provides an illustrative view of our future earnings potential under different rate scenarios. As in previous quarterly calls, it's important to emphasize that this is not a forecast. The charts illustrate the extent of our contracted revenue and our limited exposure through the end of next year 2024, to charter renewals and thus to the prevailing market at that time, with 82% of our 2024 ship days already contracted. The current year is effectively fully covered.

投影片 6 說明了我們在不同利率情境下的未來獲利潛力。與先前的季度電話會議一樣，需要強調的是，這不是預測。這些圖表顯示了我們的合約收入範圍以及到明年 2024 年底我們對租船續約以及當時主流市場的有限敞口，我們 2024 年的 82% 的船舶天數已經簽訂了合約。本年度實際上已完全覆蓋。

Moving forward, we will continue to see the incremental contribution from a number of the forward charters that we signed some time ago on strong terms, typically extended for multiple years. Our strong forward charter cover provides us with considerable earnings and cash flow visibility, a significant advantage in today's uncertain macroeconomic environment.

展望未來，我們將繼續看到我們不久前簽署的一些遠期租船合約的增量貢獻，這些租船合約的條款很嚴格，通常會延長多年。我們強大的遠期租船保障為我們提供了可觀的收益和現金流可視性，這在當今不確定的宏觀經濟環境中是一個顯著的優勢。

Moving on to Slide 7. We review the thinking underpinning our disciplined and dynamic capital allocation strategy, which has remained consistent over time and which we revisit regularly. We maintain our sustainable quarterly dividend, which totals $1.50 per share on an annualized basis, and we continue to execute opportunistic share buybacks.

轉到投影片 7。我們回顧了支撐我們嚴格且動態的資本配置策略的思維，隨著時間的推移一直保持一致，並且我們會定期重新審視。我們維持可持續的季度股息，以年化計算每股股息總計 1.50 美元，並繼續執行機會性股票回購。

We've repurchased approximately $22 million worth of shares year-to-date in 2023, including $5 million since June 30, bringing the total to $52 million since we began the program in late 2021. We have approximately $38 million of capacity remaining under the current Board of Directors authorization.

2023 年迄今，我們已回購價值約2,200 萬美元的股票，其中自6 月30 日以來回購了500 萬美元，使自2021 年底啟動該計劃以來的股票回購總額達到5,200 萬美元。我們的剩餘產能約3,800 萬美元。現任董事會授權。

We see significant value in deleveraging our balance sheet consistent with the scheduled fixed amortization inherent in our debt agreements, and we've made great strides in reducing this debt, which should position us well to weather the challenges and to be able to capitalize on the opportunities of an uncertain macro environment and market.

我們認為，根據債務協議中固有的預定固定攤銷，去槓桿化我們的資產負債表具有重大價值，並且我們在減少債務方面取得了長足進步，這應該使我們能夠很好地應對挑戰並能夠利用宏觀環境和市場的不確定性所帶來的機會。

With evolving regulations and the demands of decarbonization, we've seen good opportunities to invest in our fleet to improve performance, reduce emissions and add commercial value to our ships. We also believe that it is important to maintain a degree of cash liquidity for both resilience and optionality particularly as countercyclical acquisition opportunities are increasingly likely to arise. Overall, we intend to remain patient, nimble and focused on long-term shareholder value.

隨著法規的不斷發展和脫碳的要求，我們看到了投資船隊的良好機會，以提高船舶性能、減少排放並增加船舶的商業價值。我們也認為，維持一定程度的現金流動性對於彈性和選擇性都很重要，特別是在反週期收購機會越來越有可能出現的情況下。整體而言，我們打算保持耐心、靈活並專注於長期股東價值。

Slide 8 demonstrates our consistent and disciplined approach to acquisitions. During the period of sharply elevated asset values, we didn't make any ship purchases for nearly 2 years, instead focused on securing the lucrative charters for our existing fleet, derisking our balance sheet through debt amortization, putting in the interest rate caps and buying back shares. Only in May of this year, once asset values had normalized substantially, did we purchase 4 vessels with attractive charters attached and a compelling risk return mix.

幻燈片 8 展示了我們一貫且嚴格的收購方法。在資產價值大幅上漲期間，我們近兩年沒有購買任何船舶，而是專注於為現有船隊獲得利潤豐厚的租船合同，透過債務攤銷降低資產負債表風險，設定利率上限併購買船舶回股。直到今年 5 月，資產價值大幅正常化後，我們才購買了 4 艘附帶有吸引力的租船合約和令人信服的風險回報組合的船舶。

Selective growth is a vital element of our business model as is clear from our activity level leading up to 2021. But fundamentally, we're in the business of generating strong risk-adjusted returns, so we will continue to be highly disciplined in deploying capital for growth.

選擇性成長是我們業務模式的重要組成部分，從我們到2021 年的活動水平就可以清楚地看出這一點。但從根本上來說，我們的業務是產生強勁的風險調整回報，因此我們將繼續嚴格部署資本為了成長。

Now I'll pass the call over to Tassos to discuss our financials.

現在我將把電話轉給塔索斯討論我們的財務狀況。

Thank you, Ian. On Slide 9 is a snapshot of our financials. As you can see, our major P&L line items such as revenue, adjusted EBITDA, net income and normalized net income continued to improve for the first 9 months of this year versus the same period of last year.

謝謝你，伊恩。第 9 張投影片是我們財務狀況的快照。正如您所看到的，今年前 9 個月，我們的主要損益項目（例如收入、調整後 EBITDA、淨利潤和標準化淨利潤）與去年同期相比持續改善。

On our balance sheet, we have reduced our gross debt to $874.3 million from $999.5 million at September 30, 2022, despite adding $76 million new debt for the newly acquired vessels. We closed the quarter with $267.3 million in cash, $155.3 million of which is restricted, primarily consisting of advance received of charter hire, with the remaining $112.1 million covering minimum liquidity covenants and working capital needs. We have also continued to return capital to shareholders while also building equity value by delevering.

在我們的資產負債表上，儘管新收購的船舶增加了 7,600 萬美元的新債務，但截至 2022 年 9 月 30 日，我們的總債務已從 9.995 億美元減少到 8.743 億美元。本季結束時，我們擁有 2.673 億美元現金，其中 1.553 億美元是限制性現金，主要包括預收的包機租金，其餘 1.121 億美元用於滿足最低流動性契約和營運資金需求。我們也持續向股東返還資本，同時透過去槓桿化來建構股權價值。

Slide 10 now provides insight into our delevering efforts and cost of debt reduction over time. We maintain an aggressive amortization schedule that effectively derisks our balance sheet. That has contributed to our ability to achieve a low cost of debt at 450 basis points, including our 64 basis points interest rate cap on SOFR, which we put in place almost 2 years ago and which runs through 2026.

現在，投影片 10 深入介紹了我們的去槓桿化努力以及隨著時間的推移減少債務的成本。我們維持積極的攤銷計劃，有效降低我們的資產負債表風險。這有助於我們實現 450 個基點的低債務成本，包括我們在大約 2 年前製定的 SOFR 64 個基點利率上限，該上限將持續到 2026 年。

The right side of the slide provides important long-term context as we have reduced our financial leverage from 8.4 at the year-end 2018 to 4.2 at the end of 2021, to now 1.7 at September 30 of this year. Our financial leverage has been completely transformed and provides a robust foundation of our business at the time when the cycle has turned.

幻燈片右側提供了重要的長期背景，因為我們已將財務槓桿從 2018 年底的 8.4 降至 2021 年底的 4.2，再降至今年 9 月 30 日的 1.7。我們的財務槓桿已經完全轉變，並在周期轉變時為我們的業務提供了堅實的基礎。

Tom will now discuss our market focus and ship deployment.

湯姆現在將討論我們的市場重點和船舶部署。

Thank you, Tassos. Moving to Slide 11. We reiterate our clear focus on high-specification midsized and smaller container ships ranging from 2,000 to about 10,000 TEU. As in previous quarters, the top map illustrates the deployment of ships within our preferred size range, highlighting their operational flexibility, which is a good structural hedge in uncertain times such as these, and widespread reach. In contrast, the lower map shows the deployment of larger ships at 10,000-plus TEU and higher, which tend to be more constrained to the main east-west arterial routes with sophisticated deepwater port infrastructure.

謝謝你，塔索斯。轉到幻燈片 11。我們重申我們明確關注 2,000 至約 10,000 TEU 的高規格中型和小型貨櫃船。與前幾季一樣，頂部地圖顯示了我們首選尺寸範圍內的船舶部署情況，突出了它們的操作靈活性，這是在諸如此類的不確定時期的良好結構性對沖，並且覆蓋範圍廣泛。相較之下，下圖顯示了 10,000 多個標準箱及以上的大型船舶的部署，這些船舶往往更多地局限於具有複雜深水港口基礎設施的東西向主幹線。

Slide 12 prevents a view of idle capacity and ship recycling. Idle capacity bottomed out at just under 0.9% during the third quarter, driven by the extensive long-term chartering that took place in recent years. From that effectively full utilization, we saw a slight increase in idle capacity to 1.1% at the quarter's end, and this upward trend has continued into the fourth quarter.

投影片 12 阻止查看閒置產能和船舶回收。在近年來大量長期租船的推動下，第三季閒置運力觸底至略低於 0.9%。從有效的充分利用來看，我們看到季末閒置產能略有增加至 1.1%，而這種上升趨勢一直持續到第四季。

Logically, the uptick in idle vessels has been accompanied by the return of scrapping activity for essentially the first time since 2020, albeit at a limited scale thus far. The record-breaking charter markets of '21 and '22 saw the lives of many older and lower specification container ships extended and thus, scrapping deferred due to their phenomenal earnings.

從邏輯上講，閒置船舶的增加伴隨著拆船活動的恢復，這基本上是自 2020 年以來的首次，儘管迄今為止規模有限。 21 世紀和 22 世紀破紀錄的包租市場見證了許多舊型和低規格貨櫃船的壽命延長，因此，由於其驚人的收入，拆船被推遲。

However, as the market normalizes, there is an expectation that there will be a catch-up in scrapping. Regulatory dry dockings, which ships are obliged to go through typically on a 5-year cycle, prompt owners to consider whether investing a couple of million dollars is justified by forward earnings potential. When a vessel is aging or poorly specified or both, the answer may well be no, particularly when there is a challenging market outlook and the ship likely gets scrapped. We'll come back to what this may mean in a moment.

然而，隨著市場正常化，預計報廢將會迎頭趕上。船舶通常必須每五年進行一次受監管的乾船塢進塢，這促使船東考慮投資數百萬美元是否符合遠期獲利潛力。當船舶老化或規格不明確或兩者兼而有之時，答案很可能是否定的，特別是當市場前景充滿挑戰並且船舶可能被報廢時。我們稍後會回到這可能意味著什麼。

On Slide 13, we show the order book, which is heavily weighted towards the larger ship sizes. In other words, the over 10,000 TEU segments in which, to be very clear, GSL does not participate. With an order book-to-fleet ratio of 14.5%, the order book for midsized and smaller container ships, which are the segments relevant to GSL is much smaller, but still meaningful. Here, the older age profile of the midsized and smaller fleet is important context and ties in with what I was saying earlier about deferred scrapping and the scrap versus invest decisions that may be driven by regulatory dye dockings.

在投影片 13 中，我們展示了訂單簿，該訂單簿主要偏向大型船舶。換句話說，非常明確的是，GSL 不參與超過 10,000 TEU 的航段。與GSL相關的中型和小型貨櫃船的訂單量與船隊比例為14.5%，其訂單量要小得多，但仍然有意義。在這裡，中型和小型船隊的年齡較大的情況是重要的背景，並且與我之前所說的延遲報廢以及可能由監管染料對接驅動的報廢與投資決策相關。

Extrapolating this point, if we were to assume the scrapping of all ships over 25 years old and net those numbers out against the order book for midsized and smaller ships delivering through 2027, our focus segments would see net growth of only 1.2% through 2027. Probably an extreme scenario, admittedly, but illustrative of the supply-side safety valve for the industry in the event of a protracted downturn.

以此推斷，如果我們假設所有船齡超過25 年的船舶都報廢，並將這些數字與2027 年交付的中型和小型船舶的訂單簿相抵消，那麼我們重點關注的細分市場到2027 年的淨成長率將僅為1.2%。誠然，這可能是一個極端的情況，但它說明了在長期低迷的情況下該行業的供應方安全閥。

Slide 14 looks at the charter market, which together with asset values, has been normalizing after the extreme highs of 2021 and 2022. As usual, we provide some indicative rates on the right-hand side of this slide. These reflect our best assessment of where things stood at the end of Q3, but there has been further softening into Q4, so take them with a pinch of salt. Frankly, a combination of an uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook combined with the usual seasonal weakness in the market makes it unsurprising that rates are under some pressure.

投影片 14 著眼於包機市場，該市場與資產價值在 2021 年和 2022 年的極端高點之後一直在正常化。像往常一樣，我們在這張投影片的右側提供了一些指示性利率。這些反映了我們對第三季末情況的最佳評估，但進入第四季後情況進一步疲軟，因此對此持保留態度。坦白說，不確定的宏觀經濟和地緣政治前景，加上市場通常的季節性疲軟，使得利率面臨一些壓力也就不足為奇了。

Now I'll turn the call back to George to conclude our prepared remarks on Slides 15 and 16.

現在我將把電話轉回給喬治，以結束我們準備好的關於幻燈片 15 和 16 的演講。

Thank you, Tom. On Slides 15 and 16, we provide a summary of key points. We have continued to grow our EBITDA on the back of attractive forward contracts signed during the market upswing. We have no reliance on additional charter renewals to cover our debt service CapEx and dividends through 2024.

謝謝你，湯姆。在投影片 15 和 16 中，我們總結了要點。在市場上漲期間簽署的有吸引力的遠期合約的支持下，我們的 EBITDA 持續成長。我們不依賴額外的租約續約來支付 2024 年之前的償債資本支出和股息。

We have remained squarely focused on the midsized and smaller containership space. And we have made excellent progress in positioning GSL to be financially strong and strategically flexible throughout the cycle, benefiting from the well-timed hedging of floating rate debt and continued delevering.

我們仍然專注於中型和小型貨櫃船空間。由於適時的浮動利率債務對沖和持續的去槓桿化，我們在使 GSL 在整個週期內保持財務實力和戰略靈活性方面取得了巨大進展。

Macro uncertainty continues to exert downward pressure on market sentiment, and the liners are providing cautious guidance, though they do so with significantly fortified balances. Now having said all that, container shipping has always been cyclical, and cyclicality presents opportunities.

宏觀不確定性繼續對市場情緒施加下行壓力，班輪公司正在提供謹慎的指導，儘管他們在這樣做時保持了明顯的平衡。話雖如此，貨櫃運輸始終具有週期性，週期性帶來機會。

Our business model is designed to build, but also very importantly, to preserve value for shareholders through both the highs and the lows of the cycle. So capital allocation is disciplined but nimble, allowing us to derisk the business, pay a sustainable dividend to shareholders and opportunistically buy back shares and also when the cycle turns, as it is doing now, to capitalize selectively on the right value building purchase opportunities that may arise.

我們的商業模式旨在建立，但也非常重要的是，在週期的高潮和低潮中為股東保留價值。因此，資本配置既嚴格又靈活，使我們能夠降低業務風險，向股東支付可持續的股息，並趁機回購股票，並且當週期轉變時，就像現在一樣，有選擇地利用正確的價值構建購買機會，可能會出現。

Now we're ready to take your questions.

現在我們準備好回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Omar Nokta with Jefferies.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Omar Nokta 與 Jefferies 的線路。

Thanks, as always, for the update, always providing good detail on both the company's strategy and just sort of the market in general. I did want to come back, George, just in your latest comments talking about the liners and some of the cautious discussion that they've had here recently and sort of think about opportunities on that front.

一如既往地感謝您的更新，總是提供有關公司策略和整體市場的詳細資訊。喬治，我確實想回來，只是在你最近的評論中談論了班輪以及他們最近在這裡進行的一些謹慎的討論，並思考了這方面的機會。

There's a big focus -- or an increasing focus on the part of liners to cut costs or try to rein in costs where they can. We know there's a big order book, and a lot of those orders have been placed outright by those liners themselves. And it seems perhaps that maybe there could be a chance for them to look to refinance those as -- or maybe recapitalize them as they come closer to delivery, freeing up capital on their end and chartering them back. Do you see that as something oncoming for the industry? And is there any evidence of that happening at the moment? And is GSL -- do you guys have interest to participate in something along those lines?

人們越來越關注班輪公司削減成本或盡力控製成本的問題。我們知道訂單量很大，而且很多訂單都是由班輪公司自己直接下的。看來他們可能有機會為這些資產進行再融資，或者在它們接近交付時對其進行資本重組，釋放資本並將其租回。您認為這是該行業即將發生的事情嗎？目前有任何證據表明這種情況正在發生嗎？ GSL－你們有興趣參加類似的活動嗎？

Thank you, Omar. Well, I'd say that I don't believe that liner companies -- I mean, it might happen, but it's unlikely that will happen in a large extent to sell out their new builds with a charter back. I think it's more likely that liner companies will do what they've been doing always, all these years, is liner companies cannot operate very efficiently older ships, middle-age ships and older. They have higher costs for them.

謝謝你，奧馬爾。嗯，我想說的是，我不相信班輪公司——我的意思是，這可能會發生，但在很大程度上不太可能發生，因為他們會透過包租來出售他們的新船。我認為班輪公司更有可能會做他們多年來一直在做的事情，即班輪公司無法非常有效地運作舊船、中年船和舊船。他們的成本更高。

So we have seen that when things -- when liner companies have tried to cut costs, they will be selling existing ships, older ships, middle-age and older, to ship owners like us, like GSL. And taking them back on charter as in this way, they cut cost because an older ship for them is something that they can't operate as efficiently as we do because their focus is a different business ballgame.

所以我們看到，當班輪公司試圖削減成本時，他們會將現有船舶、舊船、中年船和舊船賣給像我們這樣的船東，例如 GSL。透過這種方式讓他們重新獲得包機，他們可以削減成本，因為對他們來說，一艘舊船無法像我們一樣高效地運營，因為他們的重點是不同的商業遊戲。

So I think that we will see more and more of these deals as we have been seeing in the past rather than them selling their strategic assets, the new builds, the big ships with the charter. Because regardless, if they give a charter even 10 years, still the ship has another 15 years of life, so they're losing the optionality of the asset.

因此，我認為我們將看到越來越多的此類交易，就像我們過去看到的那樣，而不是他們出售戰略資產、新船、包租的大型船舶。因為無論如何，如果他們租用 10 年，船舶還有另外 15 年的使用壽命，所以他們失去了資產的選擇權。

This is Tom. Just to add to that, during the super-hot years of 2021 and 2022, we saw the liner companies, because they were so eager to secure capacity, buy a lot of secondhand tonnage out of the "charter market". And I think to all of the points that George has already made, not all of those liner companies are necessarily natural holders of older tonnage. So that may be a further spur to send those ships potentially back into the charter market by way of sale and charter back. So yes, we do see that as a potential area of opportunity. Let's see how it develops.

這是湯姆。補充一點，在2021年和2022年的超級熱年裡，我們看到班輪公司因為急於獲得運力，從「包機市場」購買了大量二手噸位。我認為，就喬治已經提出的所有觀點而言，並非所有班輪公司都必然是舊噸位的天然持有者。因此，這可能會進一步刺激這些船舶透過出售和包租的方式重返包機市場。所以，是的，我們確實認為這是一個潛在的機會領域。讓我們看看它是如何發展的。

Interesting. That's actually very, very interesting color on both fronts. Thanks, George, Tom, on that. And maybe just a follow-up and to you, Tom, perhaps. You did talk about this in your remarks in the presentation about older ships in the global fleet. Obviously, GSL, you guys have invested, I would say, very wisely and always, it seems in a derisked fashion. You do have a handful of ships over the coming maybe a couple of years that are in that 20-year range that starts to roll off charter.

有趣的。這實際上在兩個方面都是非常非常有趣的顏色。謝謝喬治、湯姆。也許只是對你的後續行動，湯姆，也許。您在有關全球船隊中較舊船舶的演講中確實談到了這一點。顯然，GSL，你們的投資，我想說，非常明智，而且總是以一種無風險的方式進行投資。在未來幾年內，確實會有一些船舶在 20 年範圍內開始停止包租。

I know it's still maybe a bit a ways away, but how are you thinking about what to do with those vessels as they roll off? Have you already sort of earmarked them for scrap? Do you prefer to hold them for optionality, perhaps even if employment isn't so readily available as soon as they come open? Any kind of color you're able to share on what you kind of think or plan to do with some of the older vessels in your fleet.

我知道這可能還有一段距離，但是當這些船隻滾落時，您如何考慮如何處理它們？您是否已將它們指定為廢品？你是否更願意持有它們以供選擇，即使它們一開放就不太容易找到工作？您可以分享您對艦隊中一些舊船隻的想法或計劃的任何顏色。

Sure. Well, I think the first point to make is that just because the vessel is old, it doesn't make it a bad vessel. Quite to the contrary, I think we've been very careful about the vessels that we have selected to make sure that we're selecting high-quality vessels, high-specification vessels and particularly high reefer capacity vessels.

當然。嗯，我認為首先要指出的是，僅僅因為這艘船很舊，並不意味著它是一艘壞船。恰恰相反，我認為我們對選擇的船舶非常謹慎，以確保我們選擇高品質的船舶、高規格的船舶以及特別是高冷藏能力的船舶。

So we like to think that our vessels sit within the top quartile of specifications within their respective age groups. So we -- despite the fact that the market outlook is without a doubt quite challenging, at this stage, we remain confident of finding continued employment for our ships.

因此，我們認為我們的船舶在各自年齡組的規格中處於前四分之一。因此，儘管市場前景無疑充滿挑戰，但在現階段，我們仍然有信心為我們的船舶找到持續的就業機會。

And also, we've been working quite hard in conjunction with our charterers, particularly on ships that have continued employment ahead of them already contracted to upgrade and enhance those vessels, to make them more energy efficient and more attractive within the markets, more commercially attractive and as a result, more commercially valuable. So I don't think that ship recycling is something that we're thinking about actively at the moment.

此外，我們一直與我們的承租人一起努力工作，特別是那些在他們之前繼續僱用的船舶，這些船舶已經簽訂了升級和增強合同，使它們更加節能，在市場上更具吸引力，更具商業性有吸引力，因此更具商業價值。所以我認為船舶回收不是我們目前正在積極考慮的事情。

Your next question comes from the line of Chris Robertson with Deutsche Bank.

您的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的克里斯羅伯遜。

This is Chris on for Amit. I just wanted to circle back, I guess, on the current market for secondhand ships. If you guys could provide a bit more detail about as you're looking at the landscape, are there opportunities there for middle-aged vessels that are rolling off charters? Or are other ships with a few years left of charters remaining attached to them? Or what's kind of the current opportunity?

這是阿米特的克里斯。我想我只是想回顧一下目前的二手船市場。如果你們能在觀察情況時提供更多細節，那麼對於正在退出包機的中年船舶是否有機會？或者還有其他剩餘幾年的租船合約的船舶仍然依附於它們嗎？或是現在有什麼樣的機會？

Yes. Chris, there are opportunities out there that we are looking continuously and evaluating. Mainly, we're looking at ships with charters, so either remaining charters or ships from a liner company that would get a new charter from them. Of course, as the market -- as the value slides downwards, a deal that was yesterday, not a great deal the sellers changed their price ideas and tomorrow might be a good deal.

是的。克里斯，我們正在不斷尋找和評估一些機會。我們主要關注的是擁有包機的船舶，因此要么是剩餘的包機，要么是來自班輪公司的船舶將從他們那裡獲得新的包機。當然，隨著市場——隨著價格下滑，昨天的交易並不多，賣家改變了他們的價格想法，明天可能會是一筆好交易。

So this is an evolving situation with the deals that are out there. But there's plenty of deals. It's just that we have quite strict criteria in choosing the deals. We want them to be accretive and to be accretive immediately to the company and the cash flow. So we are evaluating them in this way.

因此，現有交易的情況正在不斷改變。但有很多優惠。只是我們在選擇交易時有相當嚴格的標準。我們希望它們能夠增值，並立即為公司和現金流帶來增值。所以我們是這樣評價他們的。

Maybe Tom can add?

也許湯姆可以補充一下？

Chris, actually no, I think George has given a very good summary. Not much that I can add to that, really.

克里斯，其實不是，我認為喬治已經給了非常好的總結。我真的沒什麼可以補充的。

Okay. Yes. My second question is related to the deleveraging efforts. I mean you guys have done an incredible job here of getting the leverage ratio down. I was wondering if you could comment on the impact that's had on the total cash breakeven level? And if you could just kind of go into detail about what that total cash breakeven level is at today.

好的。是的。我的第二個問題是關於去槓桿的努力。我的意思是，你們在降低槓桿率方面做得非常出色。我想知道您是否可以評論一下這對總現金損益平衡水準的影響？如果您能詳細說明一下今天的總現金損益平衡水準是多少。

It definitely helps, the fact that we have reduced the cost of debt, because the reality is that the fixed amortization is something which is not changing. What I mean is that we are going to see a reduction of the breakeven levels when we have a total extinction of the loans, which, if I remember correctly, the first material at least will be in 2026.

我們降低了債務成本，這絕對有幫助，因為現實是固定攤還是不會改變的。我的意思是，當我們完全消滅貸款時，我們將看到盈虧平衡水平下降，如果我沒記錯的話，第一個材料至少會在 2026 年。

(Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from the line of Ward Blum with UBS. Ward, perhaps your line is on mute. Ward of UBS, your line is open for questions.

（操作員說明）您的下一個問題來自 UBS 的 Ward Blum。沃德，也許你的線路處於靜音狀態。瑞銀 (UBS) 病房，您的熱線歡迎提問。

Okay. This will conclude the question-and-answer session. I will turn the call back to Ian Webber for closing remarks.

好的。問答環節就此結束。我會將電話轉回給伊恩韋伯 (Ian Webber)，讓其致閉幕詞。

Thank you. Thanks, everyone. Thanks for joining us, and thank you for your questions. We look forward to providing you an update in early next year on full year 2023. Thank you.

謝謝。感謝大家。感謝您加入我們，也感謝您提出問題。我們期待在明年初向您提供 2023 年全年的最新情況。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. We thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。