Cosco Shipping Holdings is splashing out about $2.15bn on a series of container ship newbuildings as it reported an operating income of CNY 101bn ($14.2bn) for the first half of its current year.
China’s largest liner operator revealed it has ordered a dozen 14,000-teu boxships at subsidiary shipyard Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry Yangzhou (Cosco HI Yangzhou).
The company has chosen methanol dual-fuel neo-panamaxes and said they will cost $179.5m each.
The vessels will be equipped with additional eco features, such as shaft generators and hull air lubrication systemsm, and they will be built to comply with EEDI Phase 3.
The ships will also meet the latest cyber security regulations.
Cosco HI Yangzhou is scheduled to deliver the newbuildings between May 2027 and March 2029.
News of Cosco planning to book the vessels was first reported by TradeWinds in May.
Cosco said the ordering is in line with its target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The vessels form part of its fleet renewal and upgrading programme.
This latest order is Cosco’s second involving methanol dual-fuel newbuildings.
Last year, it ordered five such vessels at Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering. These 24,000-teu ships, costing $240m each, are scheduled for delivery between February 2027 and June 2028.
Cosco is also converting eight of its existing conventionally fuelled neo-panamax container ships to run on methanol.
First-half earnings
Cosco reported that its earnings for the first six months of this year were better than expected.
Operating income, which came in at CNY 101.2bn, increased by 10.2% compared with the same period last year.
Cosco’s container business handled 12.5m teu based on bills of lading, a year-on-year increase of 9.34%, with revenue reaching CNY 97.5bn
The company disclosed it has achieved a total gross profit of CNY 23bn, with net profit coming in at CNY 19.3bn.
Looking ahead, Cosco said the global economy was showing a slow recovery, and it was optimistic about the prospects of the container shipping market.
