The world’s sixth-largest container ship owner, Ocean Network Express (ONE), is ordering containerships valued at approximately RMB 13 billion.
ONE will order up to 15 neo-Panamax containerships, including ten 13,000 TEU-class containerships and five options, according to foreign media reports. These newbuilds are expected to operate on either conventional fuel or methanol dual fuel.
ONE is said to have sent the bid to Chinese, Japanese and South Korean shipyards such as Jiangnan Shipbuilding, NSY, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, etc.
It is analyzed that ONE may choose HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Nippon Shipbuilding to place the order.
Last May, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and NSY split ONE’s order for 10 13,700 TEU containerships, which will be delivered in 2025. In March this year, ONE ordered another ten 13,700 TEU containerships from NSY, which are expected to be delivered between 2025 and 2026. It is worth mentioning that both batches of new vessels are designed with ammonia/methanol fuel reservation and equipped with bow windwalls and other energy-saving technologies.
In terms of the cost of Korean shipyards, each 13,000 TEU container ship costs about $180 million fueled by methanol, and $140 million fueled by conventional fuels.
As previously announced，ONE will invest billions of dollars to expand its fleet. By 2030, ONE will invest up to $20 billion in ships, terminals, containers and IT systems. Of this amount, $10 billion will be used to build new ships, and another $10 billion will be used in areas such as terminals, containers and IT technology.