SINGAPORE : First Ship Lease Trust has agreed to buy three container vessels for US$210 million or S$287 million.

It is buying the ships from a unit of Taiwan-based and listed Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation.

The first vessel is expected to be delivered by the end of May, the second by the end of June and the third by end-October.

All the ships will be leased back to YML for 12 years.

The acquisition will bring FSL Trust's total asset acquisitions to US$508 million in the 14 months since it was listed in March 2007.

The trust said the transaction is significantly accretive to its distribution per unit and has raised its guidance for distribution per unit (DPU) in its second and third quarters.

For the second quarter, FSL expects a DPU of 2.77 US cents, nearly 7 percent higher than the first quarter.

For the third quarter, it expects to pay 3.05 US cents, some 18 percent higher than the first quarter's DPU of 2.59 US cents. - CNA/ms