Major shipping giants such as Maersk and Evergreen Marine have successively launched new shipbuilding plans, and the container ship market may see a small peak in orders.
Evergreen Marine plans to order up to 14 14,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships
Following its initial investment of over US$3 billion to order 11 dual-fuel ultra-large container ships at the beginning of the year, Taiwanese container shipping company Evergreen Marine plans to order another dozen large container ships.
According to TradeWinds, Evergreen Marine is pushing ahead with another new shipbuilding project, planning to order 12 to 14 14,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered large container ships, with a total investment of US$2.5 billion.
Sources revealed that Evergreen Marine has requested quotes from several major shipyards in China, South Korea and Japan, and hopes to take delivery of the ships as soon as possible.
Evergreen Marine’s new shipbuilding plan reflects the company’s continued enthusiasm for new container ship construction. Earlier this year, Evergreen Marine announced an order for 11 24,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel powered ultra-large container ships, with a total investment of approximately US$3.25 billion. Guangzhou Shipyard International will build five of the ships, while Hanwha Ocean will build the remaining six. The cost per ship for this series ranges from US$265 million to US$295 million.
In addition to Evergreen Marine, Danish shipping giant Maersk and South Korean shipowners Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Korea Marine Transport Co., Ltd (KMTC) have also recently launched new shipbuilding plans, with the three shipowners collectively ordering 28 container ships.
KMTC Plans to Build Four 13,000 TEU Container Ships
According to South Korean media reports, KMTC has reached an agreement with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), the intermediate holding company for HD Hyundai Group’s shipbuilding business, to build four new Panamax container ships with a capacity of 13,000 TEU. The new ships will use traditional fuel, with each ship costing approximately US$150 million, and the total value of the four new ships amounting to approximately US$600 million.
KMTC is a regular customer of HD KSOE and has ordered ships from it many times. In November 2024, KMTC placed an order with HD KSOE for two 8,700 TEU container ships. These ships, to be built by HD Hyundai Samho, are scheduled for delivery by March 2027, with a construction cost of approximately US$115 million each. This order marks KMTC’s first order four years after its previous order for two 2,500 TEU container ships, the KMT Seoul and KMT Dalian, from HD Hyundai Mipo in 2020.
By joining forces with HD KSOE once again to build ships, KMTC aims to expand its fleet and resume services on routes to the Americas and Mexico, thereby expanding its influence in the global shipping market.
Maersk plans to order 12 18,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships
According to previous reports, Maersk plans to order up to 12 18,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships and has received bids from several shipyards in China and South Korea. The order is valued at between US$2.5 billion and US$2.8 billion.
According to reports, Chinese shipbuilders quoted prices for Maersk’s orders that were US$20 million lower than those of South Korean shipbuilders.
In addition, despite the uncertainty surrounding US port fee policies, container ships below 20,000 TEU that are unable to enter US ports can be deployed on European or Asian routes as needed.
Therefore, some believe that, considering various factors such as shipyard quotations, industry analysts say that Chinese shipyards are very likely to obtain Maersk’s large order for dual-fuel container ships.
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) to order up to 12 13,000 TEU container ships
HMM plans to build 6+6 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships and has invited HD KSOE, Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries to submit bids. The deadline for bids is the end of August.
The market estimates that the value of HMM’s orders for up to 12 new ships is between US$2.16 billion and US$2.22 billion.
HMM’s new shipbuilding plan is part of the company’s medium- to long-term strategy for 2030, which was announced in 2024. Regarding this shipbuilding plan, HMM stated, “Considering that container ships ranging from 10,000 TEU to 16,000 TEU can easily access various ports and markets, 13,000 TEU container ships offer high flexibility in global trade.”
Despite the overall slowdown in the global new shipbuilding market this year, order activity in the container ship sector has remained stable.
According to Clarkson data, in the first half of this year, a total of 201 new container ships with a capacity of 1.9 million TEU were ordered globally, representing a 92% increase over the average for the past 10 years.