Earlier, Danish shipping giant Maersk revealed plans to order a fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel container vessels, with the shortlist now narrowed down to two Chinese shipbuilders.
Maersk is accelerating its newbuilding program for 6+6 vessels of 18,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessels, with the list of candidate shipbuilders narrowed down to two.
A shipbroker revealed that Maersk has identified Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and New Times Shipbuilding as candidate shipbuilders and is working diligently to finalize the shipbuilder and slots. Due to tight slots at shipyards, Maersk plans to finalize shipbuilding contracts within the year.
Maersk had solicited quotations from major Chinese and South Korean shipbuilders for the newbuilding project. Chinese shipbuilders including Jiangnan Shipyard, Hengli Heavy Industries, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, and New Times Shipbuilding, as well as South Korean HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, all participated in the bidding.
It is understood that the contract value for this batch of new vessels will reach between $2.5 billion and $2.8 billion. Based on this calculation, the cost per unit ranges from $208 million to $233 million, with delivery tentatively scheduled for 2029. Given that Chinese shipbuilders quoted $20 million less per vessel than their South Korean counterparts, industry analysts had previously assessed that Chinese shipbuilders were highly likely to secure this order.
In addition to new shipbuilding, Maersk also made a big move in the ship retrofitting market.
Recently, Maersk unveiled details of a large-scale vessel retrofitting program for its time-chartered fleet. The initiative involves approximately 200 vessels from 50 different shipowners. It aims to reduce both costs and greenhouse gas emissions by enhancing fuel efficiency and cargo capacity to lower space costs.
Maersk and its time charter partners have completed over 1,500 retrofit projects across 200 vessels in collaboration with 50 shipowners. An additional 1,000 retrofits are currently underway, with completion planned by 2027. The investment costs for these solutions are shared between Maersk and the shipowners.
It is worth noting that the aforementioned fleet of up to 12 dual-fuel large container vessels represents a new batch of vessels under Maersk’s fleet renewal program. To date, Maersk has signed newbuilding/charter contracts for 60 vessels under this program, comprising 50 confirmed orders and 10 options.