Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines is being named as the company behind an order of four container ship newbuildings at HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.
South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) — the holding company for HD Samho, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo — disclosed that an Asia-based company has ordered four boxships worth KRW 674.6bn ($511m) or nearly $128m apiece.
It did not identify the buyer’s identity but said HD Samho is scheduled to deliver the 8,700-teu quartet by May 2027.
Shipbuilding players following HD KSOE’s activities said Wan Hai Lines is behind the deal.
Last month, Wan Hai disclosed that it would be ordering 20 neo-panamax container ships at two shipyards — up to 16 at Taiwan’s CSBC and four firm ships at HD Samho.
It said the HD Samho boxships would cost between $113.5m and $130.41m each.
This is the third container ship newbuilding deal for HD KSOE this year.
CMA CGM and European shortsea operator CLdN were behind the previous two.
HD KSOE said it has contracted 160 ships and one offshore unit this year and achieved 131.7% of its annual order target of $13.5bn.
