Expansion-minded Wan Hai Lines is set to order another nine neo-panamax containerships for more than $1bn.
In an exchange filing issued on Wednesday, the Taipei-listed carrier said that its board approved a newbuilding project to order nine 13,000-teu ships for up to $1.04bn.
“We will place the newbuilding orders for our long-term operations and fleet deployment,” Wan Hai said.
No further information was disclosed, but the Taiwanese liner operator is understood to be in talks with yards including Hyundai Heavy Industries for the newbuildings.
Earlier this month, TradeWinds reported that Wan Hai was looking to order five or six 13,000-teu vessels at HHI for delivery in 2023. The South Korean yard was believed to be asking for $110m each.
If the newbuildings materialise, they will be some of the largest ships in Wan Hai’s fleet.
The company, which mainly focuses on the intra-Asia trades, is expected to deploy those vessels in long-haul services.
Fleet expansion
With its container business still highly profitable, Wan Hai has been expanding its owned fleet in recent months.
In January, Wan Hai signed up for a dozen 3,013-teu vessels worth $565.2m at Nihon Shipyard, a newly formed joint venture between Japan Marine United (JMU) and Imabari Shipbuilding.
The feeder boxships are expected to be delivered from JMU’s Kure yard between the end of October 2022 and 2023.
Wan Hai said the newbuildings were part of the company’s fleet-renewal plan.
It said the new vessels will strengthen the company's capacity to extend its market coverage and to serve its customers in the intra-Asia trades.
Separately, Wan Hai has acquired 12 containerships of various sizes in the secondhand market for nearly $300m since last December.
Its latest purchases include the 4,178-teu Toucan Hunter (built 2010) and 4,255-teu Harrier Hunter (built 2009) from Belgian shipowner Compagnie Maritime Belge.
Further purchases are possible after the company’s board approved a $366m budget to buy secondhand tonnage in late-2020.
Wan Hai reported a net profit of TWD 2.59bn ($91.4m) on revenue of TWD 53.9bn in the third quarter of last year, which benefitted from strong freight markets.
