Singapore shipping company X-Press Feeders has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) for the construction of four 10,000 TEU conventionally-fueled large containerships, according to shipbroker MB Shipbrokers (formerly Maersk Broker).
X-Press Feeders’ four containership program is said to belong to the last 20 slots of SWS’s 2027 container ship delivery schedule, with each ship priced at $115 million, for a total order value of $460 million (roughly RMB 3.333 billion).
Industry sources said that SWS has recently signed a LOI with China’s Taiwan liner company, TS Lines, for the construction of up to 8 containerships in 2 types, including 2+2 14,000 TEU containerships and 2+2 8,000 TEU containerships. There has been no official response to the order from either side.
Clarkson data show that in the first four months of this year, orders for new containership only 29, all undertaken by Chinese shipyards, which is far lower than the level of the same period in the past.
So far this year, the largest containership order is placed by Japan’s Ocean Network Express (ONE), to CSSC’s Jiangnan Shipbuilding (6) and China’s largest private shipbuilding enterprises Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (6) a total of 12 13,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel-powered containerships, with the total value of the order of nearly $2 billion.
Although in the first quarter of this year, the container newbuilding market is weak, but there have been a number of liner shipping companies inquiries to the shipyard, it is expected that there will be more than 50, valued at about $ 7.5 billion of new containerships will be in the next few months and the containership market may usher in a “small peak” orders.
In addition to the above mentioned liner shipping companies, Bal Container Line (BAL), which is part of the LC Logistics, has returned to Jiangnan Shipbuilding to sign a letter of intent for the construction of 2+2 14,000 TEU neo-Panamax containerships for at least US$150 million (RMB 1,085 million) each, and if all of the option orders come into effect, the total value of the order for the four new shipbuildings will be at least $ 600 million (about RMB 4.338 billion).
France’s CMA CGM Group is also pushing ahead with its containership program, which is still in the early stages of the project, including 12 14,000 TEU containerships as well as a certain number of 4,000 TEU containerships and 8,000 TEU containerships.
MB Shipbrokers also revealed that Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is negotiating with Asian shipyards to build an undisclosed number of 15,000 TEU containerships. The containership market is expected to be very active in the coming weeks as global shipping companies scramble for the last newbuilding slots at Asian yards in 2027.
