Forging ahead with fleet renewal, Maersk books 20 new dual-fuel ships

Danish shipping giant Maersk has concluded agreements with two Chinese and one South Korean shipyard for the construction of 20 container vessels equipped with dual-fuel engines, rounding off the newbuilding orders revealed in August 2024 as part of the fleet renewal plan.

To remind, at the beginning of August, Maersk unveiled plans for orders comprising a total of 50-60 containerships combining both owned and chartered dual-fuel vessels equaling 800,000 TEU of which 300,000 TEU will be owned capacity and the remaining 500,000 TEU is planned through time-charter agreements.

On December 2, Maersk said it signed shipbuilding agreements with three yards for 20 owned vessels and also finalized the charter contracts across several tonnage providers. When phased in, the charter vessels will replace existing capacity.

The 20 newly ordered ships will all be equipped with liquefied gas dual-fuel propulsion systems and vary in size from 9,000 to 17,000 TEU.

As disclosed, China’s Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was contracted to build two 9,000 TEU and six 17,000 TEU vessels.

Another Chinese yard, namely New Times Shipbuilding, secured an order to build six 15,000 TEU vessels.

The remaining six vessels will also have a 15,000 TEU capacity and will be built by South Korean Hanwha Ocean.

The first vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2028, and the last delivery will take place in 2030.

Anda Cristescu, Head of Chartering & Newbuilding at Maersk, said: “We are pleased to have signed agreements for 20 vessels and thereby completed the acquisition of 300,000 TEU capacity as announced in August. These orders are a part of our ongoing fleet renewal program and in line with our commitment to decarbonisation, as all the vessels will have dual-fuel engines with the intent to operate them on lower emissions fuel.

“Due to their different sizes, the vessels will be able to fill many roles and functions within our future network and give us a lot of deployment flexibility when they are ready to enter our fleet. Once phased in, they will replace existing capacity in our fleet.