The Thai container shipping company RCL (Regional Container Lines) is adding two more ships to its newbuilding program.
These are two units in the classic Panamax size, each with 4,300 TEU. According to the broker, the order will go to the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong shipyard at an estimated price of US$60m.
Delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027 and the second half of 2028. This means that RCL has now ordered a total of eight sister ships from the Chinese shipyard. Four units were initially ordered at the beginning of the year before the first two options were drawn in May.
RCL ranks 26th in the global market
RCL is regarded as an intra-Asia specialist and is currently ranked 26th in the Alphaliner ranking of the world’s largest container lines with 35 ships and 78,850 TEU of capacity. Prior to the latest order, it also had a comparatively large order book of 64,000 TEU on 10 ships to date.
Regional Container Lines (RCL) was founded in 1979. The company started with its first feeder container ship between Bangkok and Singapore. The shipping company has been listed on the Thai Stock Exchange since 1988. Its geographical coverage includes Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, South Asia, the Middle East, the Red Sea and East Africa.
