South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has received a contract for the construction of five large containerships.
Signed on October 14, the contract is worth KRW 903.9 billion (about USD 762 million), DSME said in a stock exchange filing.
The ships, described by DSME as “ultra large container vessels” are expected to be delivered by the end of August 2021.
The shipbuilder has not disclosed any details on the owner of the newbuilds.
Although several maritime news outlets reported that Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is behind the ship quintet order, a spokesperson for MSC declined to confirm this.
“MSC has some optional arrangements with DSME related to previous orders . We have not confirmed a new order,” the spokesperson said in response to a WMN inquiry.
The newest order comes only a few days after DSME secured a contract to build two LNG carriers for unnamed American customers.
In the first half of this year, the shipbuilder recorded sales of KRW 4.2 trillion and an operating profit of KRW 394.4 billion.
World Maritime News Staff
The article has been amended since initial publishing with a quote provided by MSC.