Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has approached shipyards for up to 24 LNG dual-fuelled, 8,000-teu container ship newbuildings worth an estimated $2.8bn in total.
Brokers said the liner giant is asking for quotes on 18 firm vessels and options that could take the total to 24 ships.
The company is looking at securing delivery dates before the end of 2025.
The Swiss liner company is said to have approached “all shipyards” in South Korea and China that are able to build container ships of this size.
MSC declined to comment when contacted.
One broker said the shipbuilding price of a dual-fuel 8,000-teu newbuilding would be between $110m and just over $120m, depending on the yard.
On Monday, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries disclosed that it had inked a contract for three LNG dual-fuel 7,900-teu newbuildings for $355m or $118m apiece. The container ships were reported to be optional vessels held at the yard by Singapore’s Eastern Pacific Shipping.
Newbuilding market sources said in the current hot shipbuilding market, trying to find a single yard that has the capacity to construct all the ships for MSC’s requirement will not be easy. They said most facilities capable of building this ship type are packed with orders for delivery dates well into 2025.
A few top-tier Chinese shipyards are understood to be uninterested in constructing boxships of between 7,000 teu and 8,000 teu as they prefer the higher margin ultra-large container ships and are also pursuing high-price LNG carrier newbuildings.
State-owned Jiangnan Shipyard, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co are among those mentioned as turning aside from this emerging size of container ship.
TradeWinds is told that only three Chinese shipyards — Qingdao Beihai Heavy Industry, Guangzhou Shipyard International and New Times Shipbuilding — are still keen to contract container ships in this size range. But these three have limited berth slots.
Instead, MSC may need to spread its planned orders across several yards.
One broker said: “Some second-tier shipyards may have the early newbuildings slots for large orders but shipowners would not want to risk having the vessels built there since the yards do not have the experience in building this ship type. Boxships are more difficult to construct compared to building general bulk carriers.”
Brokers said South Korea’s big yards for this size of container ship will not be “cheap”.
Tanker shipbuilding specialists Daehan Shipbuilding and K Shipbuilding — the former STX Offshore & Shipbuilding — are looking to ride on the strong demand for this size of container ship and have included the vessel type in their product portfolios.
Daehan has come up with designs for 7,000-teu ships, while K Shipbuilding is marketing 8,000-teu vessels.
Brokers and consultants following the boxship sector said there are further newbuilding requirements in the works for this increasingly popular 7,000-teu to 8,000-teu size range as owners spend their record profits on upgrading their fleets.
They name companies such as Zim, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Pacific International Lines as among those expected to emerge for newbuildings.
Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network shows 78 boxship newbuildings of between 6,000 teu and 8,000 teu on order at shipyards in South Korea and China.
