Finnish owner Containerships has confirmed it has upped its order of LNG-powered boxships to six in China.
It said it had signed a preliminary agreement for the fifth and sixth vessels at Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard.
The company previously had four firm boxships plus four options at the yard.
The new 1,400-teu units, partially powered by LNG, are being built in co-operation with shipmanagement company Nordic Hamburg.
Containerships is the main owner of the first four units.
The initial order was placed in 2014 at Yangzhou Guoyu for $32m each. The yard was later switched to ensure delivery dates were adhered to.
But the vessels have been delayed nevertheless.
Containerships’ third and fourth LNG-powered vessels were christened as Containerships Finn and Containerships Balt last week at Wenchong.
Teething troubles
"The building of container vessels implemented with LNG technology is a project that requires high levels of expertise in a relatively new field of fuel solutions," the shipowner said.
"The global lack of previous experience makes the project challenging, and Containerships has had to adjust the vessel delivery schedule during the shipbuilding phase."
CEO Kari-Pekka Laaksonen added: “Even though we have been forced to reschedule the delivery of the LNG vessels by some months, I am happy to say that no major issues, that would have put the whole project at risk, have appeared. Containerships Nord, our first newbuild, successfully completed the first part of her sea trials in July.”
He added: “Five years ago, we committed to the largest investment in Containerships’ history and started to build Europe’s first LNG-based supply chain basically from zero.
"Obviously, as the first logistics company to do this, it has not been easy, but I still believe it is the way to go. The environment needs new solutions, and both the public authorities and our customers demand more ecological transport options.”
The first two LNG-powered vessels will still be delivered to Containerships during 2018 and the last two during January to March 2019.
Containerships Nord is scheduled to start its last sea trials during October.
Last month, brokers reported that Nordic Hamburg had inked an order for two 1,400-teu feederships in China at Huangpu Wenchong for delivery in April and June 2020.
