Thai shipowner orders two 7,000 TEU container ships at SWS

March 15, 2022, by Ajsa Habibic

Thai shipowner Regional Container Lines (RCL) has ordered two 7,000 TEU container ships from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS), a subsidiary of China CSSC Holding.

Image by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS)

According to SWS, the parties signed the contract on 11 March marking the first time that SWS has cooperated with ship owners in Thailand. It is also the first time that CSSC has cooperated with RCL in the newbuilding segment.

container ship — Image by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS)

At the same time, with this contract, SWS has accumulated 32 orders for this type of ship while the 7,000 TEU boxship is said to represent the largest newbuilding order for container ship ordered by RCL since its establishment in 1979.

The order is similar to the one placed by China United Shipping in February 2022. At the time, the shipyard also received an order for two 7,000 TEU container ships.

As disclosed, the ships are designed by Shanghai Ship Design Institute to meet Phase III Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) requirements as well as Tier III exhaust emission standards.

The boxships will also be equipped with full-load medium-voltage shore power receiving and conversion system to achieve zero emission and zero pollution at the port.