Gas shipbuilding specialist Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (CIMC SOE) has diversified into container ships to take advantage of the seemingly insatiable demand for the ship type.
The Chinese shipbuilder has bagged an order for two firm 1,450-teu feeder boxship newbuildings plus an option for two additional vessels.
CIMC SOE stated on its website that it had entered the sector with an order for LNG dual-fuelled newbuildings.
The Chinese yard did not disclose the buyer’s identity but pinned the contract value at CNY 1bn ($140.5m) or $35m per vessel.
Shipbuilding sources named Miami liner operator Seaboard Marine as the buyer, adding that they believed the newbuildings were replacement ships.
Seaboard is listed with five container ships of between 974 teu and 2,564 teu. Four vessels were constructed between 2006 and 2009 and one ship was built in 2011.
Officials at CIMC SOE and Seaboard Marine were not immediately available for comment.
CMIC SOE said the 1,450-teu newbuildings will be fitted with MAN’s high-pressure dual-fuel main engine and the world’s first to feature tri-lope C-type fuel tanks, which will increase cargo space and improve the ships’ efficiency.
It added the design was by carried out a German company while the LNG gas supply system was developed in-house.
The feeder boxship newbuilding is believed to be CIMC SOE’s first commercial ship newbuilding deal this year, although it has secured contracts to build LNG tanks.
According to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network, CIMC SOE’s orderbook consists of nine newbuildings excluding the feeder boxships. It is building three 7,600-cbm LNG bunker vessels for Seaspan Marine Transportation, two 8,200-cbm LNG bunker ships for Fratelli Cosulich, one 12,000-cbm LNG bunker ships for CNOOC and three 7,200-cbm dual-fuel liquid ethylene gas carriers for Hartmann Reederei.
CIMC SOE is expecting to ink more newbuildings soon as it has more than 10 clean energy powered vessels under discussions with potential buyers.
