Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group has forged a more than $1bn order at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering that will see the shipowner bring its orderbook of 15,000-teu container ships to 20.
The move adds to fleet growth in the red-hot boxship sector that has seen Zodiac cement its position as the third-largest non-operating owner, when newbuildings are included in the fleet count.
And the deal represents the second order involving LNG fuelling for the outfit, which is the shipping division of Monaco-based Ofer Global.
A market source told TradeWinds that Zodiac has ordered six 15,600-teu neo-panamaxes at DSME.
Delivery is poised to take place in 2025, a reflection of dwindling shipyard slots for earlier delivery for vessels of this type.
The six dual-fuel ships will be able to run on LNG and conventional fuel oil. That comes after Zodiac placed its first order for LNG-fuelled vessels in October, when it exercised an order for four similar ships.
In addition, Zodiac has orders for 10 conventionally-powered vessels already on order at DSME that are earmarked for charter to Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC).
The source said the ships come with “all the extras” to boost the vessels’ fuel efficiency.
Pricing of the order is not known. But the prevailing prices for vessels of this type are thought to be around $180m, well above the $130m that Zodiac is reported to have paid in October to exercise options that were forged before container ship newbuilding prices neared today’s heights.
MSC order
TradeWinds reported on 24 January that MSC paid $180m to book six dual-fuel, 16,000-teu container ships at China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co for delivery in late 2025.
Buoyed by a still-strong market, container ships in this size range are filling orderbooks like no time in recent memory. Clarksons data shows that at the start of the year, there were 196 container ships of between 12,000 teu and 16,000 teu on order, totalling 2.87m teu in aggregate capacity.
It is not known whether Zodiac’s latest ships have a charterer, but the company is known to be a conservative player that prefers to place orders that are backed by employment.
When it decided to move into LNG fuelling last year, it was reported to be at the request of a charterer.
Zodiac does not comment on its moves in the market and DSME could not be immediately reached for comment after business hours in South Korea.
The newbuildings bring Zodiac’s fleet of container ships on order and on the water to roughly 720,000 teu, putting it behind only Hong Kong-based Seaspan Corp and Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha in the boxship tonnage provider league tables.
VesselsValue estimates the company’s 139 ships on the water and 23 on order are worth nearly $12.4bn.
That contributes to Ofer’s net worth of $11.8bn, which makes him the world’s richest shipowner and the 197th richest person, according to data from Forbes. His Ofer Global is also involved in real estate, energy and technology.
All of Zodiac’s container ship newbuildings, including four 13,000-teu vessels, are on order at DSME.
For the South Korean yard group, the latest newbuilding deal with Zodiac adds to an orderbook that numbers 101 vessels, according to data from Clarksons.
