John Coustas-led Danaos Corp is said to have added two container ship newbuildings to its orderbook.
Shipbuilding sources said the New York-listed company had contracted China’s Yangzijiang Shipbuilding to build two methanol-ready 8,000-teu boxships.
Singapore-listed Yangzijiang disclosed the order last week but did not name the buyer. The contract was inked last month.
Sources said the ships will be fitted with scrubbers and are slated for delivery by the end of 2026.
They believe the Greek company will pay between $93m and $95m each for the vessels.
Danaos’ Yangzijiang deal lifts its on-order newbuilding tally to 10.
It also has four scrubber-fitted, methanol-ready 7,200-teu ships under construction at South Korea’s DH Shipbuilding, formerly Daehan Shipbuilding; two 7,100-teu vessels on order at Shanhaiguan Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co; and two wide-beam 5,900-teu boxships at Qingdao Yangfan Shipbuilding.
The boxship contracts at DH Shipbuilding and Shanhaiguan Shipbuilding were inked in 2022.
Danaos was reported to have paid about $93m each for the South Korean newbuildings, while the pair at Shahaiguan cost less than $80m apiece.
The company will be taking delivery of the vessels next year.
As for the pair at Qingdao Yangfan, the newbuildings were ordered last month. The 40-metre wide-beam ice-class IA notation ships will be powered by conventional marine fuel and fitted with 1,150 reefer plugs.
Danaos was reported to be paying between $60m and $63m each for the vessels and is scheduled to take delivery in 2025.
Yangzijiang was busy raking in container ship newbuilding contracts last month.
The Chinese shipyard also inked large boxship orders with AP Moller-Maersk and CMA CGM.
Maersk ordered up to 10 methanol dual-fuel 9,000-teu container ships worth $1.15bn. The deal was for six firm ships, with options for two to four additional vessels. Yangzijiang is scheduled to deliver the firm units in 2026 and 2027.
Maersk’s order is Yangzijiang’s first methanol dual-fuel deal.
As for CMA CGM’s contract, the French liner giant booked 10 LNG dual-fuel 24,000-teu boxships.
These ultra-large LNG dual-fuelled container ships were said to be priced in the region of $240m each and are slated to be delivered from 2026 onwards.
