German liner giant Hapag-Lloyd has homed in on two privately owned Chinese shipyards to build up to 24 LNG dual-fuelled container ships worth more than $4.2bn.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and New Times Shipbuilding have fought off five state-owned shipbuilding companies and two South Korean yards to scoop the newbuilding contracts, multiple sources tell TradeWinds.
China State Shipbuilding Corp-controlled Jiangnan Shipyard, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co, Guangzhou International Shipyard, and South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean were said to have been competing in a tender for the project.
But the two South Korean yards lost out and the Chinese contenders have since been whittled down to these two preferred shipbuilders.
Sources said the official signing of the newbuildings contracts has yet to take place as Hapag-Lloyd is finalising some details with the winning yards.
To date, Hapag-Lloyd has been coy about confirming it is engaged in a tender for newbuildings.
This month, Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen told the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum Germany 2024 it would “not be illogical” for the company to do something in the next 12 months, as its last newbuilding order was in 2021. But he stressed that any orders would likely be dual-fuelled.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Hapag-Lloyd told TradeWinds: “We are currently in negotiations with various shipyards for the construction of up to 24 ships.”
He said: “These are to be delivered primarily in 2028 and 2029 and will thus contribute to the further modernisation of our fleet.”
Orginal tender
Under its original tender for the business Hapag-Lloyd asked for offers on 10 firm ships and five optional slots in two sizes — 17,000 teu and 9,200 teu.
TradeWinds has learned that Singapore-listed Yangzijiang has been tasked to build the series of 17,000-teu container ships and New Times has the 9,200-teu order.
Brokers said there has been some discussion about whether Hapag-Lloyd would book the 9,200-teu ships directly or take these on charter from a tonnage provider.
However, they believe Hapag-Lloyd has now opted to contract these for its own account.
Officials at Yangzijiang and New Times were not available for comment.
Hapag-Lloyd is estimated to be splashing out more than $4.2bn on the orders, including the option vessels, depending on how many of each size it contracts.
It is said to be paying slightly more than $140m apiece for the 9,200-teu newbuildings, while the 17,000-teu ships are believed to be priced between $200m and $210m each.
Brokers said both Yangzijiang and New Times have built up huge orderbooks.
Under the current strong shipbuilding market, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and New Times are expanding their shipbuilding capacities to meet rising demand.
Yangzijiang plans to invest CNY 3bn ($427.2m) to build a new shipbuilding facility that will cover 867,000 square metres.
The new site to be completed by 2026 will be used for building LNG carriers and other clean-energy vessels.
New Times is reported to be putting down up to CNY 5bn to build a smart ship manufacturing base.
This will include a mega-sized dry dock that will allow it to build two full VLCCs side by side, plus another pair of half sections of the supersize tankers behind these vessels.
