MSC books 8+4 LNG dual-fuel containerships at Chinese yard

Swiss shipping major MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has signed a deal with a Chinese shipyard for the construction of up to twelve new liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel containerships.

MSC’s enormous appetite for newbuildings has continued with an order placed at the reborn shipyard Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries for eight firm boxships. Moreover, the contract includes the option for four more ships, as reported by Intermodal Shipbrokers.

The price tag for the 12,000 TEU vessels is believed to be $170 million each, bringing the cumulative value of the deal to more than $2 billion. The delivery dates were not disclosed.

The latest update of the league table published by Alphaliner, the Top 100, shows that MSC reached almost 6.2 million TEUs. The world’s largest container shipping company now controls a total of 866 containerships, out of which it now owns 573 vessels.

The table further shows that the Swiss shipping giant has 131 containerships on order, which represent 1.9 million TEUs of capacity.

Last year, MSC emerged as the first ocean carrier to surpass a staggering 5 million TEUs in fleet capacity, growing its fleet from 4 million TEUs to 5 million TEUs in almost a year.

As part of its fleet expansion strategy, the shipowner recently decided to invest in 18 new containerships, all to be powered by liquefied natural gas. The contracts, signed with two Chinese yards, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) and Penglai Jinglu, include 19,000 TEU and 11,500 TEU ships, respectively. The units are slated for delivery between 2027 and 2028.

Recently, the company welcomed the first in a series of eight 16,000 TEU dual-fuel containerships built by China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). The ship, MSC Maria Cristina, has been fitted with a 13,000 cbm type B liquefied natural gas fuel tank, dubbed the ‘biggest of its kind’ in the world’.