Danaos Corporation

Good day and welcome to the Denauss Corporation conference call to discuss the financial results for the three months ended September 30th, 2021. As a reminder, today's call has been recorded. Hosting the call today is Dr. John Kustas, Chief Executive Officer of Denauss Corporation and Mr. Evangelos Hatzis, Chief Financial Officer of Denauss Corporation. Dr. Kustas and Mr. Hatzis we'll be making some introductory comments, and then we will open the call to a question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on the touchstone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Dr. John Kustas. Doctor, the floor is yours, sir.

Thank you, operator, and good morning to everyone. This is Evangelos Hadiz, CFO. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining. Before we begin, I quickly want to remind everyone that management's remarks this morning may contain certain forward-looking statements and that actual results could differ materially from those projected today. These forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update them. Factors that might affect future results are discussed in our silence with the SEC and we encourage you to review these detailed safe harbor and risk factor disclosures. Please also note that where we feel appropriate we will continue to refer to non-GAAP financial measures such as EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income to evaluate our business. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release and accompanying materials. With that, now let me turn the call over to Dr. John Christos, who will provide the broad overview of the quarter.

Thank you, Evangelos. Good morning, and thank you all for joining today's call to discuss our results for the third quarter of 2021. We are certain that everyone is aware of the wide documented disruptions to the global supply chain that continue unabated. This situation, despite its negative effect on world growth, had extremely positive effects in our market, which continued from strength to strength. Despite efforts by all participants to alleviate the disruptions to the global supply chain, there are no signs that conditions are improving. The main contributing factors are an increase in demand, lack of available vessels to satisfy such demand, and low levels of productivity in the ports and other land-based infrastructure. Additionally, as new vessel delivery in 2022 are actually expected to be lower than in 2021, we do not expect any respite, at least from the vessel supply front in the near term. In 2023, increased deliveries are forecasted, although there will be an upsetting effect from new environmental regulations that will likely tighten the effective supply of vessels due to the anticipated reduction in speed. Overall, we do not expect a dramatic difference, provided demand remains healthy. During the third quarter, we consummated the acquisition of Gemini and acquired six more than 5,500 TVU vessels, all with existing cash resources. On the back of these moves, we have achieved record EBITDA and net income. We have also expanded our charter coverage, and now we have in excess of $2 billion of charter backlog. Our share ownership in ZIM, although adjusted as per our usual practice, will also contribute around half a billion dollars to our earnings for 2021, which is outstanding. Our liquidity in terms of cash and marketable securities is still close to half a billion, and we're closely monitoring our options and strategy for next year to deliver even better results for the company. In the meantime, liner companies are announcing record results, which is extremely positive for Danaos, as the strong credit quality of our customers continues to improve. The continued strong performance of Danaos is ensured by existing charters with an average charter duration of 3.3 years, and new charters that lock in current rates for several years. We expect strong market conditions to persist in the near term, which will support a strong recharging environment into next year and should ensure our stellar performance for the next three years. Once again, the market dynamics are in our favor and we'll continue to deliver best results possible for our shareholders. With that, I'll hand the call over back to Vangelis who will take us through the financials for the quarter.