by Lloyd's List
30 April 2025 (Lloyd's List) - COSCO Shipping Holdings, which controls the world's fourth largest containership fleet, has announced orders for 14 methanol dual-fuel 18,500 teu vessels totalling $3.1bn.
The ultra-large ships, each costing around $220m, will be placed at two Cosco-Kawasaki Heavy Industries joint venture shipyards in China by CSH's subsidiary, Orient Overseas (International) Ltd.
Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Co (Nacks) and Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Co (Dacks) have already delivered 34 ships to CSH, including a dozen 24,000 teu methanol dual-fuel boxships ordered last year.
Delivery of the new vessels is expected between the third quarter of 2028 and third quarter of 2029.
"The ordered vessels have versatility with regard to their employment range on various trade lanes and compatibility with many ports," CSH stated, adding the orders support its capacity growth and decarbonisation strategies.
The orderbook expansion also makes Cosco Shipping the third carrier to surpass 1m teu on order, behind Mediterranean Shipping Co and CMA CGM.
The huge investment comes despite current pressures on the state-owned giant from Washington's new port fees targeting Chinese shipping. Its vessels face substantially increased costs when calling at US ports from October.
This could see many Cosco ships pulled from the transpacific trade, forcing realignment of ship deployments within the Ocean Alliance where it sits.
Moreover, market demand prospects remain uncertain amid an ongoing tariff war launched by the Trump administration.
However, analysts say CSH's financial strength provides a buffer. The Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed carrier saw first-quarter net profits jump over 70% year-on-year to Yuan11.7bn ($1.5bn), after already notching close to Yuan50bn for the 2024 full year.
As of end-March, CSH further reduced its debt-to-asset ratio to 41.97%, while its cash and cash equivalents reached nearly Yuan187bn.
