Global Ship Lease (GSL) has boosted its bottom line by 15 times by achieving higher rates on numerous vessels and reining in debt expenses.

The Ian Webber-led owner of 65 container ships on Monday reported a first-quarter net income of $70.2m versus a $4.2m net profit for the same period last year.

Revenue came in at $154m, more than double the year-ago result of $73m, mostly because of the stronger rates but also due to increasing ownership days by 51.2%