According to Trade Winds, Maersk has signed contracts for the construction of a total of 32 LNG dual-fuel powered containerships with China’s two large private shipbuilders, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and New Times Shipbuilding, as well as South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean (formerly DDaewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, DSME).
Specifically, Maersk has signed a contract with New Times Shipbuilding for the construction of 6+6 16,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships. Each new building is priced at approximately $200 million, and with the option orders, the total value of the 12 new ships is approximately $2.4 billion, and they are expected to be delivered in 2028.
Maersk signed a contract with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding for the construction of 6+4 16,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships. The price of each ship is about $200 million. Together with the option orders, the total value of the 10 new ships is about $2 billion, and are expected to be delivered in 2027.
The order for New Times Shipbuilding signed at the end of September, is Maersk’s first order in LNG dual-fuel newbuilding program and the first time Maersk has placed an order for an LNG dual-fuel-powered ships, the sources said.
On October 10, Hanwha Ocean announced that it has signed a contract with a European shipping company for the construction of 6+4 15,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships, with a total value of KRW 1.693 trillion (approx. $1.25 billion) and a single ship cost of about $208 million. The new buildings will be constructed by Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje Shipyard and is scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2028. Although Hanwha Ocean did not release the ship owner information, it is reported that the owner of the order is Maersk. This is the first containership order taken by Hanwha Ocean since January 2022.
Earlier this year it was announced that Maersk’s newbuilding program would switch to LNG fuel due to the lack of methanol capacity and high cost. The industry interpreted Maersk’s fuel switch as a sign that the economic viability of methanol-powered ships was too low.
Some analysts say that falling natural gas prices are the main driver of renewed interest in LNG-powered ships among global shipping companies; green methanol (methanol made from carbon and hydrogen extracted from renewable energy sources) as a marine fuel is currently in short supply, and is more than three times as expensive as LNG, based on energy density and extraction costs; and the port refueling facilities for LNG bunkering are much better developed by comparison. In contrast, methanol is still in its infancy and the related infrastructure is not well developed.
In August this year, Maersk announced the advancement of newbuilding and time charter contracts for new dual-fuel containerships in compliance with its fleet renewal program of approximately 160,000 TEU per year.
The series of newbuilds/time charters is a continuation of Maersk’s fleet renewal program initiated in 2021 and includes both owned and chartered containerships. Maersk will add 800,000 TEU of fleet capacity between 2026-2030, equivalent to 50-60 ships. Of this capacity, 300,000 TEU will come from Maersk’s newbuilding program and 500,000 TEU is planned to be acquired through time charter agreements.
Recently, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and New Times Shipbuilding have been active in the container ship market. In addition to Maersk’s order, German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd’s $5.25 billion worth of 2 types of 30 LNG dual-fuel-powered containerships were also undertaken by these two private shipbuilders.
Among them, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s 10+5 17,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships, with a single-ship cost of about $210 million, together with option orders, have a total value of about $3.15 billion; and New Times Shipbuilding’s 10+5 9,200 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered containerships, with a single-ship cost of about $1.4, together with option orders, have a total value of about $2.1 billion.