Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) is being identified as the charterer behind four LNG-fuelled neo-panamax containership newbuildings worth about $520m ordered by Zodiac Maritime.
Brokers have tied MSC to the orders that were confirmed at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering several weeks ago.
They are the first LNG dual-fuel boxships for Eyal Ofer-led Zodiac and are believed to be priced in the region of $130m each.
The vessels have been designed to be built with type-B high manganese steel bunker tanks.
The ships are options declared by Zodiac and, as such, newbuilding sources said they are very competitively priced compared with today's much higher prices.
Zodiac originally contracted six conventionally fuelled ships at the yard, priced at about $110m each, against charters with AP Moller-Maersk.
It declared a first set of options — also conventionally fuelled vessels — in February after securing charters for them from MSC.
MSC has not replied to requests for confirmation about its charters and fuelling choices.
Hesitant fuel switchers
In the huge wave of containerships newbuilding orders, most shipowners initially preferred to stick with conventional fuelling in combination with scrubbers for their new vessels.
But, in recent months, as pressures mount on shipping over its emissions, some have started to move towards other fuelling types.
At the start of this year, Hapag-Lloyd joined companies including CMA CGM, which pioneered LNG dual-fuelling for boxships, with an order for ultra-large containerships at DSME.
Others such as Seaspan Corp and Hartmann Reederei have followed.
Ocean Network Express has a requirement with shipyards for up to 15 neo-panamax dual-fuel containership newbuildings and is seeking offers on LNG dual-fuel but ammonia-ready vessels.
But today, those building vessels that will bunker LNG largely see it as a transition fuel and are also weighing up alternative fuels as they seek to decarbonise their operations while complying with incoming regulations.
Classification society DNV said that of the 394 LNG-fuelled vessels on order, 85 are containerships. There are 20 boxships already in operation that can bunker LNG.
