French shipping giant Duffy Marine Group (CMA CGM) continues to push ahead with new containership investments and plans to place an order for up to 20 dual-fuel powered containerships with South Korea’s largest shipbuilding group, HD Hyundai.
According to Korean media on June 19, CMA CGM has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with HD Hyundai Group for the construction of 20 containerships in 2 types of liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel powered containerships, including 12 16,000 TEU Neo-Panamax LNG dual-fuel powered containerships and 8 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships. It is expected that both parties will sign the formal contract soon.
The above 20 large dual-fuel powered containerships will be built by HD Hyundai Samho and are expected to be delivered from 2027 to 2028. Among them, the cost for a single 16,000 TEU neo-Panamax containership is about US$200 million, and if all 12 containerships take effect, the order value will be about US$2.4 billion; the cost for a single 13,000 TEU containership is US$140 million, and if all 8 containerships take effect, the order value will be about US$1.12 billion.The total value of the order for the 20 dual-fuel containerships will be about US$3.52 billion.
It is understood that this is another cooperation between CMA CGM and HD Hyundai Samho after nearly a year and a half.On February 1, 2023, HD Hyundai Samho announced that it had signed a contract with France’s CMA CGM Group for the construction of twelve 13,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel powered large containerships, with an order value of about $2.05 billion, which are expected to be delivered by 2026 successively.
The last undertaking for containerships by HD Hyundai Samho, also in February 2023, was responsible for the construction of seven 9,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel powered medium-sized containerships, scheduled for delivery from 2025 to 2027, for Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM). If the large order from CMA CGM is finalized, it will be HD Hyundai Samho’s first containership order this year.
In addition to HD Hyundai Samho’s order for 12 methanol dual-fuel powered containerships, CMA CGM Group is keen to place orders with Chinese shipyards in 2023, involving China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s (CSSC) Jiangnan Shipbuilding, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation(DSIC) and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS), and China’s largest private shipbuilding enterprise, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group.
In April 2023, CMA CGM Group and CSSC signed a contract for the construction of 12 15,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel powered large containerships and 4 23,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered ultra-large containerships with an amount of more than RMB 21 billion, which is a new record of the largest amount of containerships contracted by China’s shipbuilding industry at one time, and is also the first time for CSSC to receive bulk orders for methanol-powered dual-fuel containerships. Among them, six 15,000 TEU containerships would be built by Jiangnan Shipbuilding and DSIC respectively; and four 23,000 TEU containerships would be built by Hudong-Zhonghua.
In June 2023, CMA CGM ordered 10 24,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, which is the largest single newbuilding contract in the 16 years since Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s listing, and also the first order for 24,000 TEU ultra-large containerships in 2023. In September of the same year, CMA CGM ordered eight 9,200 TEU methanol dual-fuel powered medium-sized containerships from SWS, with a total order value of more than US$1 billion, through which SWS entered the methanol dual-fuel ship market for the first time.
CMA CGM Group is currently strengthening the competitiveness of its fleet by newbuilding programs.
Data from VesselsValue, a global shipping data company, shows that up to now, CMA CGM has ordered a total of 98 new containerships from Chinese and South Korean shipyards, valued at US$16.34 billion, including 27 24,000 TEU ultra-large containerships, 29 13,000 TEU~16,000 TEU large containerships, 35 5,500 TEU-9,200 TEU medium containerships, and 7 2,200 TEU feeder containerships.
Notably, according to shipbroker Braemar, CMA CGM has recently ordered six 8,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships from Samsung Heavy Industries and is negotiating a series of up to 12 orders for 15,000 TEU containerships. However, the order has not yet been confirmed by both parties.
In addition, another shipbroker MB Shipbrokers (formerly Maersk Broker) sources, Jiangnan Shipbuilding, Hudong-Zhonghua is negotiating with several liner companies for 13,000 TEU to 14,000 TEU containership orders, with delivery dates lined up until 2029. It also noted, “The surge in the container newbuilding market will continue through June, with a series of new ship orders expected this summer.”