FRENCH container line CMA CGM has signed up for its first newbuildings with Chinese shipbuilder Hengli Heavy Industry, marking another milestone in the yard’s rapid ascent to become the world’s third-largest shipbuilding group.
According to market sources, CMA CGM has signed firm contracts for eight 6,000 teu containerships, with deliveries scheduled for 2029. The vessels are expected to be built to a design developed by Marine Design & Research Institute of China (MARIC), according to Alphaliner.
The Marseille-based carrier already operates six vessels based on the MARIC 6,000 teu design. They feature conventional fuel systems but are ammonia-ready, with four owned by Belgian tonnage provider Delphis and operated by CMA CGM under long-term charter agreements.
In addition to the newbuildings ordered directly from Hengli HI, CMA CGM is set to charter a further 10 “MARIC 6000” class vessels from Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping.
Those ships were ordered from three Chinese shipyards last year and are set to be delivered between 2027 and 2028. The EPS vessels are understood to have been specified with dual-fuel liquefied natural gas propulsion systems.
While the fuel type of CMA CGM’s latest order remains undisclosed, the carrier has heavily favoured LNG-powered designs in recent years as part of its decarbonisation strategy.
Third-largest container line CMA CGM boasts the biggest newbuilding orderbook among global liner operators by vessel count, with 160 ships on order, Alphaliner data shows.
The company’s most recent newbuilding contract prior to the Hengli HI deal was finalised in February, when it confirmed an order for six LNG dual-fuel feeder vessels at India’s Cochin Shipyard, following a letter of intent signed in October last year.
For Hengli HI, securing CMA CGM as a customer further enhances an already impressive client portfolio that includes major boxship owners such as EPS, Mediterranean Shipping Co, and XT Shipping. The shipbuilder has amassed a backlog of more than 60 containership newbuildings in the past three years.
Data tracked by Lloyd’s List shows Hengli HI has secured orders for at least 130 vessels across multiple shipping sectors since the beginning of 2026.
The company was revived from the bankrupt STX Dalian shipyard and resumed operations in January 2023, before rapidly expanding during one of the strongest shipbuilding cycles in recent decades.
The yard’s growth has been supported by significant capacity expansion at a time when many established shipbuilders have limited newbuilding availability until 2029 or 2030 due to high demand.
Earlier this year, Hengli HI overtook South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean to become the world’s third-largest shipbuilding group, behind only China State Shipbuilding Corp and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering.
The company recently confirmed plans to raise $1bn through a share issuance to support its rapidly growing orderbook. A new 1,200 metre long drydock is currently under construction and will allow Hengli to build up to four very large crude carriers simultaneously.
Hengli has emerged as a dominant force in the tanker construction market, holding more than half of all VLCC orders on the global orderbook. The shipbuilder has been particularly successful in attracting business from Greek tanker owners, many of whom are pursuing fleet renewal programmes.
