Rodolphe Saade’s CMA CGM is understood to be adding at least $3.5bn worth of container ship newbuildings to its extensive orderbook.
Multiple shipbuilding sources say the French liner company has pencilled in 20 newbuildings with HD Hyundai group shipyards.
They added that the world’s third-largest container line has inked letters of intent for a series of 16,000-teu and 8,000-teu container ships, all of which will be LNG dual-fuelled.
The sources specified that CMA CGM is plotting a dozen vessels of 16,000 teu and eight ships of 8,000 teu.
Based on the current newbuilding market, they estimate CMA CGM will need to pay around $200m each for the neo-panamax boxships and about $140m apiece for the smaller vessels.
They believe Ulsan-based HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Mokpo-based HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries will build the vessels, with delivery between 2027 and 2028.
A Hyundai official declined to comment on specific deals but said newbuilding enquiries remain strong, especially for tankers and container ships.
Brokers noted that CMA CGM is not the only liner company looking to order new ships right now, despite oversupply concerns following a huge spike in orders during the sector’s largest boom.
Companies such as Hapag-Lloyd, Zim, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, AP Moller-Maersk and Cosco Shipping Lines are also eager to contract newbuildings, sources explain.
Factors such as the Red Sea crisis, the European Union’s proposed 2040 emissions target, the recovery of freight rates and strong company earnings are cited as drivers behind the renewed interest in newbuildings.
According to VesselsValue, CMA CGM currently has 98 container ship newbuildings worth $16.34bn on order at shipyards in China and South Korea.
This includes 27 ultra-large vessels of 24,000 teu, 29 units of between 13,000 teu and 16,000 teu, 35 vessels of between 5,500 teu and 9,200 teu, and seven 2,200-teu newbuildings.
Clarksons lists a slightly smaller orderbook of 84 container vessels in CMA CGM’s hands.
In 2023, CMA CGM was reported to have inked four boxship newbuilding deals worth about $6.5bn in total.
These involved a dozen 13,000-teu vessels at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, six 15,000-teu boxships at Jiangnan Shipyard, 10 ships of 24,000 teu at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and eight 9,200-teu vessels at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. All these newbuildings are dual-fuel ships capable of operating on LNG or methanol.
In November, CMA CGM was reported to have approached shipyards for quotes on up to 10 LNG dual-fuelled sub-panamaxes of 4,000 teu, but a broker said that the project was dropped due to high shipbuilding prices, with quotes exceeding $90m a vessel.
