Samsung Heavy Industries, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Jiangnan Shipyard are set to split an Evergreen Marine order for a raft of 23,000-teu containerships in deals worth a total of $1.6bn.
South Korea's SHI will build six of the 10 ships, while the two Chinese state-owned shipbuilders will build two each.
Taiwanese container giant Evergreen, which said the newbuildings are part of its fleet-renewal programme, said the cost of the scrubber-fitted vessels was “between $140m and $160 each”.
TradeWinds first reported that SHI was set to win the bulk of the orders last month. The contracts are said to have been placed by Evergreen affiliate Greencompass Marine.
Initially, Evergreen was expected to charter five of the vessels from Japan’s Shoei Kisen, with the units constructed at Imabari Shipbuilding.
However, it now appears that Evergreen has had a change of heart and left Shoei Kisen out of this latest newbuilding project.
Evergreen disclosed that the 10 newbuildings will be directly owned by the company and two of its subsidiaries.
It did not reveal delivery dates for the ships, but industry insiders say the three shipbuilders will deliver them in 2022.
The mega-containerships will be deployed on trades between the Far East and the US West Coast or from the Far East to Europe.
