After triple-E container vessels orders made by A.P. Moller-Maesk A/S, China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) announced the plan to order up to five vessels of the same type and become the second operator to add the new huge fuel-efficient vessels to its fleet.
As it was announced on Shanghai stock exchange on Saturday, CSCL said that the contract details will be revealed after the official signing which will most likely happen next month.
Until now, only Daewoo Shipbuilding has built this type of vessels, the price of which is around USD 140 million each, but that does not exclude from the race the other shipbuilding giants from South Korea, such as Hyundai Heavy Industries or Samsung Heavy Industries, which submitted bids for the newbuildings.
When realized, this order will be the largest one ordered by a Chinese owner to date.
World Maritime News Staff, April 30, 2013