Nearly five months after placing a rare newbuilding order in China, Greek car carrier company Neptune Lines has doubled the ships it has under construction there.
The new order for a pair of 4,200-ceu units revealed on Wednesday brings the total number of newbuildings it has booked at Fujian Mawei Shipyard to four.
In contrast to the first pair, which will be completed in 2026, Neptune’s second newbuilding batch is due for delivery in 2027.
Branded as the Genesis Project, the newbuilding programme will deliver next-generation ships that will be able to run on LNG and very low-sulphur fuel oil.
Neptune currently operates 22 pure car/truck carriers, both owned and chartered, with a cargo capacity ranging between 1,500 and 6,500 vehicles.
Once delivered, its new, Deltamarin-designed ships will be able to carry about one-third more in cargo than its current fleet average and will help Neptune meet a 2030 target to slash its carbon intensity by 68% from a 2008 baseline.
“These figures surpass the current IMO targets by a substantial margin,” said the company, whose owner, Melina Travlos, is also president of the Union of Greek Shipowners.
Before embarking on the Genesis Project, Travlos had last ordered newbuildings 12 years ago.
The Greek owner’s return to shipyards coincides with a wider expansion and diversification strategy that coincides with the appointment of Craig Jasienski as chief executive — an outsider who was previously CEO at rival Wallenius Wilhelmsen.
Neptune Lines also expanded into onshore logistics last year. The new logistics sidekick the company set up in January 2023 made its first acquisition in November.
