Wan Hai Lines has bought its 12 containership since December taking its spending in the S&P market to nearly $300m over the last three months.

The Taiwanese shipowner confirmed in a regulatory filing that it has acquired the 4,178-teu Toucan Hunter (built 2010) for $21m.

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This is reported to be the third ship Wan Hai has acquired from Belgian shipowner Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) since late last year.

TradeWinds has previously reported that it bought the 4,255-teu Harrier Hunter (built 2009) this month for $21m and the 4,178-teu Teal Hunter (built 2010) in December for $18.25m.

CMB looks set to make a hansom profit on the sale with it reportedly acquiring the ship in August 2017 from German owner Oltmann Schiffarhts for $7.4m.

The ship, which was built by in Taiwan at the Kaohsiung yard of CSBC, has been on charter to various affiliates of Cosco since early 2015, according to online valuations site VesselsValue.

In the middle of February, Wan Hai bought the 6,030-teu My Ny (built 2004) for $25m from George Youroukos-controlled Technomar Shipping.

In December, it bought a trio of 7,241-teu vessels from Schulte Group and three units of 6,350 teu each from different shipowners.

Last month, Wan Hai paid $18.5m for the 5,642-teu Granville Bridge (built 2006) from Doun Kisen of Japan. It has also emerged as having bought the 4,900-teu Halifax Express (built 2000) from Costamare, for an undisclosed price.

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Wan Hai embarked on its spending spree after setting aside $360m to buy ships from 1,800 teu to 8,500 teu.

On Monday TradeWinds reported that Wan Hai Lines was holding discussions with Hyundai Heavy Industries for up to six 13,000-teu vessels.

Industry insiders believe Wan Hai will be asked to pay close to $110m for each of the neo-panamax containerships, reflecting the rise in newbuilding prices.

If the order is confirmed it would take the shipowner’s recent spending on containership newbuildings to more than $1.1bn.

In January, Wan Hai signed up for a series of 12 containerships at Japan’s Nihon Shipyard in a deal reported to be worth $565m.