On December 5, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) released the Announcement on Signing of Significant Contracts by Subsidiaries of the Company.
The announcement disclosed that Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company Limited(SWS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Shipbuilding, and Guangzhou Shipbuilding International Company Limited(GSI), a holding subsidiary of China Shipbuilding, respectively signed a newbuilding contract for a number of 10,800 CEU LNG dual-fueled car carriers with Seaspan Corporation and HMM, with a total contract amount of about US$1.46 billion (about RMB 10.45 billion), and the total contract amount accounted for about 17% of the Company’s audited operating revenue for fiscal year 2022.
Seaspan Corporation is the world’s largest independent owner of containerships, primarily focused on long-term, fixed-rate charters with the world’s largest container liner companies, the announcement said.Formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine, HMM was reorganized and renamed Han Shin Shipping in 2020, and became a holding company of the Korea Development Bank(KDB) , which is the largest shipping company in South Korea.
CSIC said that car carriers are one of the main ship types built by the relevant subsidiaries of the company, and with the acceptance and delivery of bulk orders for car carriers, the company has established its brand value and leading position in this market segment.
The undertaking of this 10,800 CEU dual-fuel car carrier contract will further consolidate the Company’s leading market position in this field, which will be conducive to giving full play to the advantages of the experience of SWS and GSI in the design and construction of the ship, and enhancing the utilization rate of production resources and facilities. And will be conducive to enhancing the consolidation of the influence of SWS and GSI in the field of designing and constructing green and low-carbon ships, and bringing about a broader market effect. The project will also help consolidate the influence of SWS and GSI in the field of green and low-carbon ship design and construction and bring wider market effects.
According to SWS’s WeChat public number, on December 5, SWS, together with CSTC signed a construction contract for six 10,800 CEU LNG dual-fuel car carriers (PCTCs) with Canada’s Seaspan, which makes SWS’s hand-held PCTC orders up to 16 ships with the undertaking of this project.
The contracted vessel is the first mega car carrier (PCTC) newbuilding project exceeding 10,000 CEU seats in the history of the world, which is of milestone significance in the history of the development of the world’s PCTC vessel type.
Designed by Shanghai Ship Research and Design Institute (SDARI), the vessel is equipped with 14 car decks, five of which are lifting or movable decks, providing excellent loading capacity for ultra-high and ultra-heavy ro-ro cargoes. It is worth mentioning that the vessels will also be designed with ammonia fuel reservation and methanol fuel reservation, laying the groundwork for the technical feasibility of retrofitting to use “carbon neutral” fuel in the future. The vessels will be operated by HYUNDAI GLOVIS after delivery.
According to the official news of GSI, the company joined hands with South Korea’s Glovis as the final charterer at Marintec China 2023, and signed a total of 6+4 of the world’s largest car carriers (PCTC) – 10,800 CEU with South Korean shipowner HMM and Canadian shipowner Seaspan Corporation.
Among them, 6 vessels will come into effect immediately and 4 option vessels will come into effect or not within 3 months after the vessels come into effect as decided by the shipowners. Up to now, GSI has taken orders for 31 PCTC vessels (excluding 4 option vessels), of which 2 vessels have been completed and delivered, with 29 vessels on hand, ranking the first in the world in terms of the number of orders received in this market segment.
This ship is the upgraded model of the 8600 CEU car carrier under construction by GSI, with a capacity of 10,800 CEU, which is the largest car carrier in the world at present.Previously, the world’s largest car carrier was the 9100 CEU car carrier ordered by Hegh Autoliners of Norway in China Merchants Heavy Industry, which is still under construction.
Previously, the world’s largest car carrier was a 9100 CEU car carrier ordered by Hegh Autoliners of Norway in China Merchants Heavy Industry, which is still under construction. The 10,800 CEU car carrier signed by GSI will realize another qualitative leap in terms of the number of vehicles to be carried and comprehensive performance. By adopting LNG/fuel oil dual-fuel propulsion mode, this vessel has excellent performance in energy saving and emission reduction, and represents the most advanced technology level of PCTC vessels at present.
At present, the delivery schedule of GSI’s PCTC vessel order has been scheduled until the end of 2028. The company has successfully completed the delivery of the first 2 vessels of the first batch of 7,000 CEU car carriers in 2023. By continuously optimizing the production process and improving the production efficiency during the construction, the subsequent construction will be faster and faster. The undertaking of this batch of 6 orders of 10,800 car carriers has once again consolidated GSI’s global leading position in the PCTC vessel market segment.