Bermuda-headquartered Ship Finance International Limited has inked an agreement to acquire three 9,000teu container vessels from an unrelated third party.

The vessels are currently under construction and are expected to be delivered to Ship Finance between 4Q 2015 and 1Q 2016, subject to customary closing conditions and approval by the charterer.

The vessels have similar technical specifications as the company’s recently delivered 8,700teu container vessels, with the latest in eco-design features.

The vessels have been chartered out for a minimum period of five years to a European-based container line, with options to extend the charter period by up to two years.

The company's charter backlog will rise by approximately US$200m and the aggregate annual EBITDA contribution from the vessels is estimated at more than US$30m on average during the five year firm period of the charter.

"We are very pleased to further grow our presence in the containership segment with these state-of-the-art vessels, and at the same time expand our chartering counterparties with one of the leading container lines," said Ole B. Hjertaker, CEO of Ship Finance Management AS.

"Our charter backlog and long-term distribution capacity is building in an accretive manner, and there is still significant capacity for more investments without raising additional equity capital."