On November 25, South Korea’s HJ Heavy Industries announced that it had signed a contract with a European shipowner for the construction of four 7,900 TEU environmentally friendly container ships to be delivered one after another from 2026.The total price of the four new ships is KRW606.7bn (approx. US$432m), with a single-ship price of US$108m.
The 7,900 TEU containership, which is 272 meters long and 42.8 meters wide with a speed of 22 knots, is similar to four 7,900 TEU environmentally friendly containerships that HJ Heavy Industries received from another European owner in June this year, which are expected to improve productivity and profitability through repeat construction, HJ Heavy Industries said.
The ship, which is conventionally fueled, will carry desulfurization towers and will be methanol ready for future carbon-neutral operations.
So far this year, HJ Heavy Industries has received eight 7,900 TEU container vessels. In addition to the current 4 ships, the other 4 ships are from Navios Maritime, Greece.
Recently, due to the increase in container ship freight rates and the competition for market share among global shipping companies, as well as the demand for fleet renewal by shipowners, the number of orders for container ships has been continuously increasing, driving up ship prices. According to data from Clarkson in the UK, container ship prices have risen by more than 30% over the past two years.
HJ Heavy Industries claims that “the secret to winning this order is its world-leading environmentally friendly container ship technology.” The company is focusing on securing the next generation of environmentally friendly shipbuilding technology and is developing carbon capture and storage technology in addition to LNG dual-fuel container ships.