MSC is adding further container ship newbuildings to its already gigantic order book. Ten megamax freighters are being ordered from Hengli Heavy.
This is already the second order that the No. 1 in global container shipping has placed with the Dalian shipyard. It is already the second order for the shipyard: ten ships with a capacity of 21,000 TEU were ordered three months ago.
A month ago, Gianluigi Aponte’s company also ordered eight medium-sized newbuildings, each with a capacity of 11,500 TEU and LNG propulsion, from Jiangsu Rongsheng, a reactivated shipyard. There were also four options.
According to reports, the ships that have now been ordered will each cost around US$215m and will be delivered in 2027. They will also be equipped with gas engines in order to be able to use LNG as an energy source. According to rumours, a further order for a series of 24,000 TEU freighters could follow from Hanwha Ocean in South Korea. However, these units could be somewhat more expensive at US$270m, according to reports.
MSC’s order book corresponds to approximately 30% of the existing fleet
Prior to this latest major order, MSC’s order book already comprised 128 ships with around 2 million TEU, which corresponds to around 30% of the existing fleet. Only with this newbuilding fleet would MSC be No. 6 in the ranking of the largest container shipping companies, just behind Hapag-Lloyd (No. 5, 2.27 million TEU) and the Japanese ONE (No. 6, 1.94 million TEU).
Hengli Heavy recently celebrated its two-year anniversary. The shipyard emerged from the former STX Dalian, which had been taken over by Hengli. The annual capacity is 40 newbuildings. The order book currently contains 80 ships, including VLCCs, VLOCs and gas tankers.
