by Lloyd's List
7 February 2025 (Lloyd's List) - NEW orders for containerships with a combined capacity of some 1m teu are understood to be in discussion by Taiwanese and European container line operators. Greek shipowner TMS is also said to be in the process of concluding a deal for up to 10 vessels of 11,400 teu for the charter market.
Should all of the potential orders reach contract signing stage then the combined boxship orderbook appears set to reach 9.5m teu, or 30% of existing capacity of the fleet in service.
France’s CMA CGM is rumoured to be in discussions for up to 12 LNG dual-fuel boxships of 18,000 teu.
Analyst Alphaliner said that the order is expected to be placed at a Chinese shipyard with potential delivery from 2028.
In January, CMA CGM contracted South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to build 12 15,000 teu boxships, also to LNG dual-fuel specification.
Hamburg-headquartered container line Hapag-Lloyd is said to be in discussions with South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean for further newbuildings. If confirmed, they would add to 24 vessels of between 9,200 teu and 16,800 teu, which Hapag-Lloyd contracted in China in October 2024.
The dual-fuel newbuildings under discussion with Hanwha Ocean are understood to be of 17,000 teu capacity.
An intital six vessels are expected to be ordered by the world’s fifth-largest boxship operator by the second quarter of this year.
Meanwhile, George Economou’s TMS shipping group is reported by shipbrokers to have ordered up to 10 containerships of 11,400 teu capacity.
Six firm vessels are said to have been contracted from China’s Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard, with options arranged for four further ships.
Taiwan’s top container line operators Evergreen, Wan Hai Lines and Yang Ming are all understood to be in talks with shipyards for more boxship newbuildings.
The world’s seventh-largest operator, Evergreen, is thought to be in the market for additional 24,000 teu containerships to add to ships of the same capacity it contracted in China and South Korea in 2021 and 2022.
Wan Hai Lines is reported by Alphaliner to be in talks with compatriot shipbuilder CSBC for a new series of 16,000 teu containerships.
The company is believed to have recently added four 8,000 teu containerships at CSBC, which add to 16 ships of the same design ordered in 2024.
Finally, Yang Ming is expected to order up to 13 containerships of up to 15,000 teu as part of a fleet replacement programme for its oldest ships, which were built in the early 2000s.
The state-owned carrier has among the smallest orderbooks of the top 20 carriers. It has only five ships presently on order of a combined 77,500 teu.
Shipbroker Clarksons notes that the containership fleet is going through a period of significant expansion due to record vessel ordering since 2021.
“By the start of 2025 the containership fleet stood at 6,777 vessels of a combined 30.8 million TEU, up over 10% from the start of 2024 and up 24% from the start of 2022, with growth particularly rapid in the larger sizes,” said Clarksons.
In 2024, the fleet of ships of above 12,000 teu grew by 17% in teu terms and has increased by some 50% since early 2022.
