Singapore-based container shipping company X-Press Feeders is gradually expanding the size of its orderbook for methanol ready containerships to accelerate its fleet renewal program.
According to Trade Winds, X-Press Feeders has signed a contract with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), for the construction of six 11,000 TEU methanol reserved containerships. The new shipbuildings are expected to be delivered successively between the third quarter of 2027 and the fourth quarter of 2028, which will then become the largest containerships ordered by X-Press Feeders or its subsidiary owner company, Sea Consortium, and will be deployed on the company’s core trade routes, with specific deployments to be announced prior to the delivery of the new shipbuildings.
The new buildings will be equipped with desulphurization units. No specific value has been announced, but according to shipbroker sources, the price of each ship is close to US$130 million, which makes the total value of the six new ships close to US$780 million.
This is the second time this year that X-Press Feeders has ordered 11,000 TEU methanol ready containerships from SWS, and the number of cooperation between the two parties on this type of ship has increased to 10. On May 29, X-Press Feeders signed a contract with SWS for the construction of the first four 11,000 TEU methanol ready containerships, which are expected to be delivered in 2027, at an announced cost of US$115 million at the time, and are among the last 20 slots in the 2027 containership delivery schedule of SWS.
It is reported that 11000TEU methanol ready containership is a new generation of green and environmentally friendly large box ship independently developed and designed by SWS, which can be loaded with 11,000 standard 20-foot containers. Based on the conventional fuel-powered double-island design, the addition of a new reserved methanol-fueled power system will significantly reduce the cost of the shipowner’s subsequent green-fueled modifications.
Configuration of several desulfurization, carbon reduction, energy saving and drag reduction devices such as desulfurization towers and windbreaks will greatly optimize the rapidity and reduce carbon emissions while significantly lowering fuel consumption and lowering operating costs.
As an old friend of Chinese shipyards, X-Press Feeders has been actively ordering new vessels in the past few years. In addition to the order from SWS, X-Press Feeders ordered 6+2 x 1,250TEU methanol dual-fuel open top containerships from Huangpu Wenchong, a subsidiary of CSSC, in June 2023; and in November 2021, it ordered 16 x 1,170TEU open top containerships from New dayang Shipbuilding (8 x 1,250TEU) and Ningbo Xinle Shipbuilding (8 x 1,500TEU). A total of 16 1,170 TEU feeder container vessels have been ordered, all of which will be delivered by the end of 2024. In addition, X-Press Feeders has also ordered 4+4 950 TEU feeder containerships from New dayang Shipbuilding in 2021.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)