Eyal Ofer-led Zodiac Maritime has exercised options for a quartet of neo-panamax containership newbuildings worth around $520m in total.
They are the first boxships that the shipowner is opting to build with dual-fuel propulsion systems that can run on LNG or conventional fuels.
Those following the newbuilding business said options were exercised on the four 15,000-teu newbuildings at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and the ships are to be built as dual-fuel vessels at their charterer's request.
But details of the charterer have yet to emerge.
The vessels are believed to be priced in the region of $130m each and are currently expected to be built with DSME's high manganese steel bunker tanks.
The containerships are due for delivery in 2024.
Zodiac does not comment on its commercial business.
These latest newbuildings give Zodiac a total of 14 neo-panamax boxships at DSME but mark a shift in the shipowner's fuelling choices on container shipping.
Zodiac kicked off its ordering spree at the shipyard in November 2020 with contracts for six ships. It later emerged that they have been chartered out to Danish giant AP Moller-Maersk.
The ships, priced at around $110m each, were ordered with conventional fuelling. Then in August, Maersk showed its intention to pursue methanol-fuelling by placing its own order for neo-panamax boxships at Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Choices, choices
It later emerged that the Zodiac had secured two sets of four options at DSME but had the option to convert the slots to dual-fuel vessels.
The shipowner declared the first quartet in February. These are conventional-fuelled vessels, which are backed by charters with Mediterranean Shipping Co.
The latest four are understood to have been exercised within the last few weeks.
They add to Zodiac's growing portfolio of dual-fuel vessels.
In March the company signed up to three VLGCs that whose propulsions systems can be fuelled by LPG. Zodiac inked the order for the newbuildings worth $234m at DSME.
In August Zodiac joined the car carrier crush at shipyards by pencilling in orders with two Chinese shipyards for up to 14 dual-fuel pure car/truck carriers (PCTCs) worth more than $1.1bn.
The company signed a letter of intent (LOI) for a quartet of the LNG-fuelled, 7,000-ceu firm vessels at CIMC Raffles and secured a further eight optional slots for sisterships that could boost its PCTC newbuilding tally to 12 vessels.
The company also signed a second LOI with Xiamen Shipbuilding for a further two PCTC newbuildings of a similar size and design.
