Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has upsized a planned order for 18 LNG dual-fuelled panamax-sized container ships to a whopping 28 vessels split across three shipbuilders and priced at more than $3.4bn in total.
Brokers said MSC has signed letters of intent with Chinese shipbuilders New Times Shipbuilding and Qingdao Beihai Heavy Industry for a series of 8,000-teu container ships.
New Times is set to net the lion’s share of the contracts with up to 14 vessels with state-owned Qingdao Beihai expected to secure eight vessels.
On top of this, newbuilding sources revealed that South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries has secured six 7,700-teu LNG dual-fuelled newbuildings from MSC.
Shipbuilding sources said MSC, which is partnered with Shell on its move to LNG-fuelling, will be paying the three shipyards more than $120m each for the container ship newbuildings.
Officials at the shipyards declined to comment on their companies’ newbuilding activities, citing contract confidentiality.
In response to a request for confirmation and further details about the orders, MSC told TradeWinds: “In keeping with our general policy, MSC declines to comment on speculation around our newbuilding pipeline.”
News of MSC’s latest newbuilding haul on container ships — this time for 8,000-teu vessels — was first reported in TradeWinds in early March.
Then, the company was said to be looking to order 18 firm LNG dual-fuelled vessels and options that could take the total to 24.
All shipyards in South Korea and China able to build 8,000-teu boxships are said to have been approached by MSC. Initial market speculation indicated that the order would be split between two Chinese yards with the inclusion of orders at HHI surprising some.
Brokers said MSC’s order has basically filled 2024 and 2025 delivery slots for 8,000-teu newbuildings at New Times and Qingdao Beihai.
MSC’s newbuilding contract will be the second boxship order for Qingdao Beihai. The China State Shipbuilding Corp controlled shipyard, which is better known for bulker construction, made its boxship debut in 2021 when it scooped 10 conventional-fuelled 5,500-teu ships from CMA CGM.
In February, John Fredriksen’s shipowning vehicle SFL Corp was reported to have signed a letter of intent with Qingdao Beihai for four conventional-fuelled 7,000-teu newbuildings at between $81m and $82m per ship. But this publication has since learnt that the deal is no longer going ahead.
Interest in the 7,000-teu to 8,000-teu boxship size range has been intense this year.
Owners that have contracted ultra-large and neo-panamax-sized vessels have been working their way down the size ranges, ploughing the vast profits they have been making back into fleet renewals and expansions with the new 7,000-teu to 8,000-teu sized vessels.
Brokers and consultants have named companies including Zim, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Pacific International Lines as among those eyeing vessels in this size range.
In March, CMA CGM turned to Samsung Heavy Industries to contract four LNG dual-fuel 7,400-teu boxships for delivery dates starting in 2024. The newbuildings were priced at around $123m each and the deal includes an option for three additional vessels.
But to date, it is MSC that appears to have the most voracious appetite among all its liner peers.
