On May 29, Malaysian investment holding company MTT Shipping and Logistics announced through the Malaysian Stock Exchange that two of its indirectly wholly-owned subsidiaries had ordered two 3,300 TEU container ships from Wuhu Shipyard, with a unit price of approximately US$39.966 million and a total cost of US$79.932 million.
MTT Shipping’s two shipowning subsidiaries are MTT Shipping Pasir Gudang and MTT Shipping Miri. The new vessels ordered by the two companies are expected to be delivered on March 31, 2029, and June 30, 2029, respectively.
In accordance with the contract, payment for this order will be made in stages based on the five key milestones in shipbuilding: project signing, steel cutting, keel laying, launch, and vessel delivery.
MTT Shipping stated: “Any further renewal or extension of the contract term is subject to mutual agreement between the parties. The two new vessels ordered are expected to have a positive impact on the company’s earnings upon delivery.”
According to information on the company’s official website, MTT Shipping and Logistics officially commenced operations in January 2019. The company owns several subsidiaries, and its core businesses include container liner shipping, vessel chartering, container storage, and related support services. Currently, the company’s fleet consists of 25 vessels, all of which are container ships flying the Malaysian flag and designed to maximize cargo capacity.
On the shipyard side, Wuhu Shipyard has recently achieved several breakthroughs in undertaking new ship orders and building shipbuilding bases.
Since the end of April, including the latest orders, Wuhu Shipyard has announced 15+8 new vesssels, including 2 container ships, 2+2 product/chemical tankers, 2 types of 6+2 bulk carriers, 1 oil tanker, and 4+4 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).
Notably, the VLCC orders are of particular interest. This batch of new vessels was ordered by Navios Maritime Partners, a U.S.-listed shipping company owned by Greek shipowner Angeliki Frangou. Including optional vessels, the total cost of the eight vessels amounts to $964 million. This marks Wuhu Shipyard’s first VLCC contract and represents the largest vessels the shipyard has ever built; they are reportedly set to be constructed at Wuhu Shipyard’s Nantong base.
The Nantong base, a newly established shipbuilding base of Wuhu Shipyard, officially commenced operations on May 29th. With the simultaneous docking of an 89,000 DWT methanol dual-fuel bulk carrier belonging to AVIC COSCO Shipping Group, the base has transitioned from the construction phase to the production phase. Furthermore, the Wuhu Shipyard Nantong base has achieved a new breakthrough in construction technology by being the first to apply ro-ro launching technology.
Currently, Wuhu Shipyard has three major shipbuilding bases: the Wuhu Shipyard headquarters, the Weihai base, and the Nantong base. The Wuhu Shipyard headquarters covers an area of 1,210,700 square meters, with a total shoreline of 1,355 meters, and has two 80,000-ton slipways and one 740-meter outfitting wharf; the Weihai base covers an area of 680 mu (approximately 45 hectares).