Hapag-Lloyd will sign the largest order in the company’s 54-year history this week, according to Alphaliner.
In its latest weekly report, Alphaliner said that Hapag-Lloyd is about to officially sign a newbuilding order for 24 liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel container ships with a Chinese shipyard, with a total value of $3.96 billion (RMB 28.4 billion).
Specifically, the shipping giant will order 12 17,000 TEU dual-fuel container ships from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and 12 9,000 TEU dual-fuel container ships from New Times Shipbuilding, which have been previously reported but not officially signed.
Early last month it was announced that Hapag-Lloyd will sign contracts for a total of 20+10 LNG dual-fuel container ships with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and New Times Shipbuilding. Among them, Hapag-Lloyd will sign contracts with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding for 10+5 17,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel containerships at a cost of $210 million each, and sign contracts with New Times Shipbuilding for 10+5 9,200 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships at a cost of US$140 million each.
Subsequently, market sources said that Hapag-Lloyd increased Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s confirmed order form 10 vessels to 12 ships, and at the same time increased the number of ships under option to 6, i.e., the total number of ships was expanded from 10+5 to 12+6.
New Times Shipbuilding’s confirmed order, on the other hand, was changed from 10+5 to 9,200 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships to 12 9,000 TEU dual-fuel container ships with an unknown number of option ships.
Alphaliner estimates that the total value of the confirmed orders for 24 ships, including 12 from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and 12 from New Times Shipbuilding, will reach $3.96 billion.
Hapag-Lloyd will join hands with Maersk in early 2025 to create the Gemini Cooperation, a new liner alliance on the main east-west routes. The two parties will cooperate on 290 ships with a total capacity of 3.4 million TEUs, of which 40% will be invested by Hapag-Lloyd.
According to the latest data from Alphaliner, Hapag-Lloyd’s current capacity of 2.29 million TEU, ranking fifth globally, consists of 296 container ships, of which 129 are owned. It has 11 new ships under construction for about 152,000 TEU.