French liner giant CMA CGM has strengthened its business ties with Idan Ofer-controlled Eastern Pacific Shipping by signing up to a charter deal for a series of six pioneering newbuildings.
A shipping player familiar with both companies said the Marseilles containership operator has chartered six 15,000-teu dual-fuel vessels that Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries is building for Singapore-headquartered Eastern Pacific.
CMA CGM has taken the newbuildings for 15 years on a time-charter basis.
The rate has not been disclosed, but a market source said he believes CMA CGM is paying about $55,000 per day for each ship.
Asked to confirm the charter deal, the French operator said only that it "does not plan to increase its fleet capacity", without giving further details.
Eastern Pacific signed up for the boxship newbuildings last year and they were said to cost more than $120m each. The sextet is set for delivery between 2020 and early 2022.
The charter comes as CMA CGM already holds a leading position in LNG-fuelled containerships.
The outfit was the first liner operator to buck the trend and sign for large containerships with LNG technology, with chief executive Rodolphe Saade telling TradeWinds earlier this year that the fuel is the "motorisation for the future”.
In 2017, it signed up for nine ultra large containerships of 22,000 teu — the largest and first to be built with dual-fuel propulsion systems.
The vessels, which are being constructed at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Jiangnan Shipyard, are being fitted with 18,600-cbm, membrane-type LNG bunker tanks. This enables them to take on LNG as bunkers in Rotterdam and make a 63-day round voyage between Europe and China without the need to refuel.
The first of these nine newbuildings will deliver in early 2020. MOL is to supply a purpose-built LNG bunker vessel to fuel them and Total will provide the LNG.
Chartered tonnage at Jiangnan
Early this year, CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping Leasing — the leasing arm of China State Shipbuilding Corp — ordered five 15,000-teu dual-fuel containerships at Jiangnan Shipyard for delivery in 2021. The vessels, reported to be priced from around $130m each, are chartered out long term to CMA CGM.
CMA CGM is also due to take delivery of six LNG-fuelled 1,400-teu newbuildings in 2021 from Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding. The feeder containerships were ordered by Containerships of Finland, which CMA CGM took over.
In addition to the latest six 15,000-teu ships, Eastern Pacific ordered five similar-size, scrubber-fitted newbuildings at Hyundai Samho in 2017 at a reported price of slightly more than $100m apiece.
Two of the five — the CMA CGM Argentina and CMA CGM Mexico — were delivered in June and July, respectively.
Hyundai Samho is scheduled to hand over the third ship — to be named the CMA CGM Panama — in November.
The other two newbuildings — the CMA CGM Chile and CMA CGM Brazil — are due to roll out of the dry dock in the first half of next year.
The quintet has been chartered to CMA CGM for 10 years at a reported rate of $40,000 per day.
Ian Lewis contributed to this story
