Singapore’s Pacific International Lines (PIL) is set to return to Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding for more container ship newbuildings.
The Singaporean liner company is said to have pencilled a provisional newbuilding contract with the Chinese shipyard for five LNG dual-fuelled 9,000-teu container carriers worth more than $700m.
The company is said to be paying slightly more than $140m each for the neo-panamaxes.
Boxship players following the container ship deal said Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua has reserved three 2027 slots and two in 2028 for PIL.
Multiple shipbuilding sources said the liner outfit started working on this newbuilding project several months ago.
They added that PIL approached several shipyards in China and settled on Hudong-Zhonghua.
TradeWinds contacted PIL about the five neo-panamaxes at Hudong-Zhonghua, but a company official said the information was “incorrect”.
Should it firm up the series of 9,000-teu vessels, the deal would be the company’s second container ship deal inked at the yard this year.
In May, the Asian liner company contracted the China State Shipbuilding Corp-controlled shipyard to build five LNG dual-fuelled 13,000-teu boxships at more than $190m per vessel.
PIL said the quintet was designed with a focus on efficiency, safety and sustainability. It added that the vessels will also have the flexibility to meet the demands of different voyages, weather conditions and load capacities.
The series of 13,000-teu ships will be equipped with dual-fuel engines and auxiliaries to be run on LNG as well as low-sulphur fuel oil.
Lars Kastrup, chief executive of PIL, said the 13,000-teu vessels at Hudong-Zhonghua were part of the company’s “fleet renewal strategy for larger and more eco-friendly vessel types”.
PIL also has eight other boxships being built at two other shipyards.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is constructing four 8,200-teu vessels and Jiangnan Shipyard is building larger ships of 14,000 teu. They were ordered in 2022.
PIL recently held a naming ceremony for two container ships — the Kota Eagle and Kota Emerald — at Jiangnan.
The 14,000-teu boxships are the largest vessels in PIL’s fleet as well as the first to fully run on LNG.
PIL will be taking delivery of the duo shortly and the remaining two 14,000-teu vessels are slated to be delivered during the first half of next year.
As for the quartet at Yangzijiang, these are LNG-capable but ammonia-ready 8,200-teu vessels.
PIL is scheduled to take delivery of the quartet next year. The ships were reported to cost about $120m each.
PIL is the 12th largest liner operator in the world and was established in 1967 by the late Chang Yun Chung.
In 2021, the company underwent major restructuring, with Heliconia Capital Management, a subsidiary of state-owned investment company Temasek, acquiring a majority stake through a $600m investment.
PIL has set a decarbonisation goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
