Wallenius Wilhelmsen has hatched plans to build four of the largest car carriers ever.
The Oslo-listed car carrier giant announced on Wednesday that it is upsizing four of its 12 newbuildings under construction at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard from 9,300 ceu to 11,700 ceu with two slated for delivery in 2027 and two in 2028.
“The value in this is in the scale. With this we are lowering the cost per unit and thereby the emissions per unit substantially,” said senior vice president for fleet ownership Morten Skedsmo during the company’s capital markets day.
“These are reducing the cost for us to provide the net-zero end-to-end service.”
The newbuildings are part of its dual-fuel, methanol- and ammonia-ready Shaper class series, which started with an order for four in August 2023 with an option for eight more.
The company exercised that option in May, bringing the total vessels to 12 and the value likely above $1bn.
The first of the series is set for delivery in 2026.
At the event, Skedsmo and chief advisor Lene Barli Wiederstrom said the 9,300 ceu Shaper class vessels reduce emissions by 27% with the upsized vessels a further 10 percentage points to 37%.
Both said it furthers the company’s decarbonisation ambitions, with a net-zero end-to-end service starting in 2027 with vessels running on a variety of alternative fuels including biofuels.
Skedsmo, though, made no commitment as to where the vessels would operate.
He admitted the vessels — 6 meters longer, 2 meters wider and two car decks taller — were too large for some of its trade routes, but argued Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s large network meant the vessels would have a place and that on longer-haul the fuel efficiencies would be the greatest.
“We have found several trade lanes where we can put this on,” Skedsmo said.
“These vessels can be traded as our other vessels. They have the ability to carry a huge amount of high and heavy [cargo] in addition to the cars if we want to do that.”
As it stands, Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s largest car carriers are a pair of 2015-built vessels at 8,031 ceu, according to Clarksons.
Those are bested by seven vessels, all owned by rival Hoegh Autoliners.
Six of those have a capacity of 8,500 ceu, while its newest vessel, the 9,100-ceu Heogh Aurora (built 2024) hit the water in August.
The remaining 11 vessels in Hoegh Autoliners’ fleet are also 9,100 ceu.
