Asia liner giant Ocean Network Express (ONE) is looking to order a series of neo-panamax container ship newbuildings, despite overcapacity impacting the company’s earnings.
Several shipbuilding players said the Singapore-headquartered outfit had asked shipyards in the Far East for offers to construct between five and 10 firm container ship newbuildings of 13,000 teu, with options for an additional five vessels.
TradeWinds learned that ONE is keeping the fuel option open and has asked yards to submit quotes for the ships to be powered by conventional marine fuel or be methanol dual-fuel.
Sources said major shipyards such as Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, Nihon Shipyard, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and shipyards controlled by China State Shipbuilding Corp were asked to put in their offers.
Brokers think five methanol dual-fuelled vessels will cost at least $900m in total if ONE is to order the ships from South Korean shipyards, as they are quoting about $180m each for the ship type.
If ONE is to opt for the newbuildings to be powered by conventional marine fuel, the container ships will cost around $140m each.
One shipbuilding source believes ONE may opt to build 10 newbuildings in total and split the order between two shipyards — a practice that it carried out last year.
ONE did not reply to emails seeking confirmation of its plans.
In May 2022, ONE joined the shipowning league when it splashed out $1.6bn to order 10 conventional fuel, 13,700-teu newbuildings. It split the order equally between HHI and Nihon Shipyard — a joint venture between Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United.
The two yards are scheduled to deliver the new ships in 2025.
In March, ONE returned to Nihon Shipyard and ordered 10 methanol dual-fuel and ammonia-ready, 13,700-teu newbuildings to be delivered in 2025 and 2026.
It said the order was in line with the company’s medium-term strategy of safeguarding a sustainable supply chain for the future and the firm’s green strategy and decarbonisation plans.
ONE’s latest order reflects the company’s optimistic view of the liner market.
Last month, ONE chief executive Jeremy Nixon told TradeWinds that his organisation remains bullish about the future of the liner sector despite an almost $5bn year-on-year profit drop in its second-quarter results.
Nixon said ONE has committed to invest $20bn in ships, terminals, containers and IT systems up to 2030. The company wants to be at the forefront of the decarbonisation of the shipping industry.
