SFL Corporation, the US-listed shipowner controlled by Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen, has confirmed its return to the Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) newbuilding market by placing an order for four vessels valued at over $360 million.
On August 26, SFL Corporation announced in its preliminary financial results for the second quarter of 2026 that it had ordered four 7,000-CEU (Car Equivalent Unit) LNG dual-fuel PCTCs. With a total investment of $363 million—translating to approximately $90.75 million per vessel—the ships are scheduled for delivery in 2029.
The financial report indicates that two of these newbuildings have already been fixed on five-year time charters with a prominent Asian automaker, with options to extend the charters for an additional five years. The initial charter terms will add approximately $150 million to SFL Corporation’s firm order backlog.
Although SFL Corporation has not disclosed the specific shipyard for this order, market reports previously suggested that the company had placed an order with CIMC Raffles for a vessel of the same specifications.
In addition to the charters for the newbuilds, two 6,500-CEU PCTCs in SFL Corporation’s fleet—the “SFL Conductor” and “SFL Composer”—have been fixed on three-year time charters with an Asian liner company, generating approximately $83 million in additional contract revenue.
As of the end of June 2026, SFL Corporation holds a total of nine newbuild vessels, comprising four 7,000-CEU LNG dual-fuel PCTCs and five 16,800-TEU container ships.
The container ship project is being undertaken by New Times Shipbuilding; the vessels feature an LNG dual-fuel design, have a total construction cost of approximately $1 billion, and are scheduled for delivery starting in 2028. SFL Corporation has secured time charter contracts of at least 10 years for these newbuild container ships, with options for extension.
As of the end of June 2026, the total value of contracted fixed-rate charters for SFL Corp’s fleet (including newbuilds) stood at approximately $3.8 billion, with a weighted average remaining charter duration of 6.2 years.
In recent months, driven by a surge in Chinese automobile exports, strengthening time-charter rates, and rising secondhand vessel values, confidence in the PCTC newbuild market has rebounded, resulting in the placement of multiple new vessel orders.
Major shipowners—including Norway’s Höegh Autoliners, Switzerland’s Sallaum Lines, Norway’s Global Car Carriers, Singapore’s Eastern Pacific Shipping, Israel’s Ray Car Carriers, and Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line)—have publicly announced new orders totaling more than 50 vessels. With the exception of two vessels ordered by Ray Car Carriers from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, all these orders have been secured by Chinese shipyards.
It is also worth noting that Ray Car Carriers—a company that has historically favored placing orders with HD Hyundai-affiliated shipyards—is currently in advanced negotiations with Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) for 10 to 14 LNG dual-fuel PCTCs with a capacity of 8,600 CEU. Analysts believe this shift in shipbuilding strategy is likely due to capacity constraints at the South Korean shipyards with which the owner has long collaborated, rendering them unable to meet its shipbuilding requirements. At the same time, the diversion of such a large-scale batch of orders to China demonstrates the further strengthening of Chinese shipyards’ competitiveness in the car carrier sector.