Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s largest container shipping giant, continues to ramp up shipbuilding orders with Chinese shipbuilders, and its existing order book will be further expanded.
According to TradeWinds, MSC has placed an order for four 5,000 TEU container ships with Chinese shipbuilder Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding, with a total value exceeding $200 million. Each vessel is priced at approximately $50 million, and all newbuilds feature conventional fuel designs.
Since 2023, MSC has placed orders for over 100 container ships (including option vessels), ranging in size from 10,300 TEU to 24,000 TEU. This shipbuilding project with Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding marks MSC’s first order for a medium-sized container ship since 2023, signifying that MSC has gradually shifted its new shipbuilding focus from ultra-large container ships to medium-sized container ships.
It is worth noting that all new ship orders placed by MSC in recent years have been secured by Chinese shipbuilders, with each vessel featuring either LNG dual-fuel propulsion or LNG retrofit capability. These orders span multiple domestic shipbuilders including Hengli Heavy Industries, Zhoushan Changhong International, Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, and Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry Co., Ltd(HT).
For the shipbuilder, MSC’s order marks the second 5,000 TEU container ship order announced by Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding in 2026. On January 16, the shipbuilder announced a contract with Qianyuan Shipping (Hainan) Co., Ltd. for the construction of one 5,000 TEU container ship. The successive public announcements of these two identical newbuild projects indicate that Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding is accelerating its expansion into this specific shipbuilding sector.
It is understood that Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding is a shipyard that has resumed production. Established in June 2005, it was originally a subsidiary under the control of Wuhan Guoyu Logistics Industry Group.
The shipyard is located in Yizheng Economic Development Zone of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, covering an area of about 1,848 mu, with a perennial water depth of more than 13 meters and good water conditions; it has two 50,000-ton slipways, one 70,000-ton slipway and one 100,000-ton slipway, with a maximum lifting capacity of 800 tons; The outfitting wharves on the east and west coasts can berth 50,000-ton ships and outfitting operations for ships of up to 300,000 tons respectively. It can build all kinds of ships such as cargo ships, oil tankers and chemical tankers of 100,000 tons and below, with an annual production capacity of up to 2 million tons.