Intra-Asia liner operator TS Lines has signed up for six containership newbuildings worth around $172m at Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding in China. The newbuildings contract involved two 2,900-teu and four 1,100-teu newbuildings.
Market sources said the newbuildings are option vessels that TS Lines held at the yard. The deal brings the order tally of the 2,900 teu that it has booked at Fujian Mawei to four and the smaller containerships to eight.
With the latest order, TS Lines' spending on feeder containership newbuildings at Fujian Mawei totalled around $344m. The 2,900-teu ships were said to cost close to $40m apiece while the 1,100-teu ships were priced between $21m and $23m each.
Officials at Fujian Mawei declined to comment on the shipyard newbuildings activities citing contract confidentiality. TS Lines does not comment on market reports.
Fujian Mawei is scheduled to deliver the containerships between 2023 and 2024.
TS Lines' 2,900-teu and 1,100-teu newbuildings will comply with the International Maritime Organization's Energy Efficiency Design Index Phase 3 for greenhouse gas emissions and Tier III NOx standards.
Besides the containerships at Fujian Mawei, TS Line has four 7,000-teu neo-panamax boxships under construction at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. It ordered the quartet in May for a reported price of about $73m each.
The company is slated to take delivery of the four vessels in 2024. It will be deploying the containerships on the Indian subcontinent and Middle East trades, replacing chartered vessels it operates.
TS Lines also has five 1,900-teu and one 2,700-teu newbuildings under construction at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding for delivery next year.
TS Lines is active in the sale-and-purchase market. According to VesselsValue, the company bought six vessels ranging between 962-teu and 6,350-teu this year.
TS Lines operates 53 containerships, of which 24 are owned. It is planning to launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong next year. Funds raised could be used to finance the expansion of its fleet.
