On September 11, SFL Corporation Ltd. (SFL) announced that it had reached an agreement with Hapag-Lloyd to extend the charters for six 15,400 TEU container ships by seven years, with a contract value of $750 million.
According to reports, these six ships are the “Savannah Express”, built in 2013, and the “Baltimore Express”, “Vancouver Express”,”Oakland Express”,”Houston Express”, and “Atlanta Express”, all built in 2014. The original lease terms for this fleet were set to expire between the fourth quarter of 2028 and the fourth quarter of 2029.
Under the renewed charter agreements, these six ships will continue to be operated by Hapag-Lloyd at fixed rates through 2035–2036. This renewal brings SFL’s total order backlog to $4.6 billion. Since the beginning of 2026, SFL has increased its charter order backlog by more than $1 billion.
As of June 30, 2026, SFL’s fixed-rate order backlog comprises its wholly-owned ships and drilling rigs, as well as four 19,000 TEU container ships that are partially owned and managed by SFL (with full charter revenue included); the total backlog figure accounts for subsequent transactions.
This renewal is one of several long-term liner charter agreements for SFL. Last year, the company finalized a five-year charter renewal with Maersk for three 9,500 TEU container ships, extending the charter period to 2031 with a contract value of approximately $225 million.