Taiwanese liner giant Evergreen Marine has transferred ownership of two ultra-large containerships (ULCs) in a deal worth up to $320m.
The 24,000-teu vessels, costing between $140m and $160m each, will be built at China's Jiangnan Shipyard, according to a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing.
The vessels will shift from Evergreen's Hong Kong subsidiary to Evergreen Marine (Asia), based in Singapore, the company confirmed.
Initial reports suggested a new deal that would have lifted the tally of giant containerships that Evergreen has on order at China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC)-controlled shipyards from six to eight.
All of the vessels will be powered conventionally and fitted with exhaust gas scrubbers, according to Alphaliner data.
Three giants delivered
Evergreen has 12 ULC newbuildings booked at shipyards in the Far East.
It started investing in ULCs in 2019 when its affiliate, Greencompass Marine, signed up for 10 newbuildings at three shipyards.
The Panama-registered company placed orders for six vessels of 23,764 teu at South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries and two 23,888-teu ships each at China's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Jiangnan Shipyard.
Orders for two more in the series were placed with Hudong in June.
The Shipping Intelligence Network database of London broker Clarksons shows Greencompass is paying $152m each for the SHI vessels, while the Jiangnan and Hudong-Zhonghua newbuildings cost $145m apiece.
The first three of the six ships being delivered from Samsung, named Ever Ace, Ever Act and Ever Aim (all built 2021) were delivered in July, September and October.
Three more South Korean-built ships will join the fleet by next May. Hudong-Zhonghua and Jiangnan will deliver their newbuildings in the second and third quarters of 2022.
Evergreen has ordered the ULCs as part of its fleet renewal programme.
Sales add to huge profit
In a separate filing, Evergreen announced the disposal of two unnamed 2,800-teu containerships for $90m in total.
It expects to make a $16.58m profit on the deal, which involves ships controlled by its Greencompass subsidiary Italia Marittima.
The company also reported a net profit for the first nine months of TWD 177bn ($6.3bn).
Operating revenues were TWD 333bn, with nearly half of that coming in the third quarter.
Evergreen, the seventh-largest liner company in the world, recently ordered 24 containerships at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding that will cost between $958m and $1.098bn.
The contracted newbuildings are two 1,800-teu vessels, 11 ships of 2,300 teu and 11 of 3,000 teu.
