European shipping majors MSC and CMA CGM have turned to their Chinese shipbuilding partners to bolster the capacity of their containerships.
Namely, Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company signed a contract with CSIC affiliated yard Beihai Shipbuilding on December 14 to retrofit up to eleven 14,000 TEU containerships,CSIC announced.
Under the deal, nine firm containerships will have their capacity increased to 17,000 TEU, while contracts for two more ships are expected to be finalized in January, next year.
The deal is said to follow on the back of CMA CGM’s letter of intent with CSIC to convert 5+5 13,800 TEU boxships, local media reported.
Neither CMA CGM nor MSC was available for comment at the moment of the publication of this article.
World Maritime News Staff