Taiwan’s TS Lines is celebrating its 20th anniversary by inking a $300m boxship order.
The intra-Asian operator has signed up for four 7,000-teu containerships with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS).
The vessels were ordered in a virtual ceremony on 6 July and will be delivered in 2023 and 2024, the carrier confirmed.
Eight ships?
TradeWinds reported in May that TS Lines was poised to sign a contract for four ships, but there is speculation that the latest order is an addition to that initial contract.
Alphaliner reports that four ships in the series were ordered three months ago at a cost of $73m per vessel.
Those vessels have deliveries from December 2023 through to April 2024.
TS Lines, which could not be contacted, plans to deploy those vessels in its India-Pakistan service.
But Alphaliner believes the latest order involves the second batch of vessels costing slightly more than $75m each.
These will be delivered immediately after the first four between April and November 2024, the analyst said.
50% of fleet owned
TS Lines embarked on a fleet expansion two years ago designed to increase the proportion of its owned vessels to around half of its fleet.
The company has orders for two 2,700-teu vessels for delivery later in the year from the CSSC Guangzhou Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding.
These are expected to be phased into the Australian service in July and September.
Another four 1,900-teu vessels under construction at the same shipyard are slated for delivery to the liner operator next year.
TS Lines embarked on its expansion last year spending around $100m on eight vessels of between 1,800 teu and 5,600 teu.
It has continued to be an active player in the secondhand market and will take delivery of two handysize vessels of 1,000 teu and 1,800 teu later this month.
The company will also take delivery of a 6,300-teu vessel in the fourth quarter of the year.
Upgraded earnings
TS Lines is profiting massively from the liner shipping boom.
The company has raised its annual profit expectation this year to TWD 17bn ($607m), compared with a profit of TWD 6bn in 2020.
It said it had initially a target of annual profit of TWD 10bn for 2021, but expects to have hit that in the first half of the year.
That bodes well for the liner operator, which is looking to revive plans for an initial public offering in Hong Kong.
TS Lines operates a fleet of 43 container vessels, with 14 ships in the orderbook, according to Alphaliner.
