The Arkas Group, Turkey’s biggest container ship owner, has returned to China for newbuildings that will boost its fleet beyond the 50-vessel mark.
The four 4,300-teu boxships contracted at CSSC’s Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard are set to be the biggest ever to join the company’s fleet.
They will cost $240m in what is Izmir-based Arkas’ first newbuilding order in eight years.
The Lucien Arkas-led firm is scheduled to take delivery between February and August 2028, when they will join its Arkas Line operation.
“Built as next-generation eco-designed vessels, they will support Arkas’ sustainability strategy by reducing carbon emissions,” the company said.
The Arkas fleet currently consists of 49 container ships with a capacity between 1,022 teu and 2,837 teu and built between 1997 and 2017, with an average age of 18 years.
The newbuildings will help support its fleet renewal sustainability goals “through their fuel performance measurement system as well as their increased capacity”, Arkas added.
Two months ago, Arkas Line announced a significant expansion of its footprint to the transatlantic trade.
On 13 February, it said it would participate in a service connecting the Mediterranean with the US East Coast, with compatriot Turkon Line and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd.
Arkas’ traditional areas of operation so far have been the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, northern Africa and northern Europe.
The newbuilding orderbook for intermediate container ships is moderate.
According to Clarksons, 84 ships between 3,000 teu and 5,900 teu are under construction, corresponding to about 7.3% of the existing fleet on the water in terms of teu measured tonnage.
This is a much lower saturation level than in bigger container ships. The average newbuilding orderbook for the entire boxship fleet stands at 22%, boosted by the larger sizes.
Arkas separately controls six oil barges and one supramax bulker.
