Hong Kong-headquartered container shipping line Kawa Shipping has reportedly booked three 4,800 TEU vessels to be built at China’s Wuhu Shipyard, part of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), in a $240 million deal.
It is understood that the contract also includes an option for a fourth newbuilding. The delivery date for the ships has not been disclosed.
Kawa Shipping is in its nascent years in the maritime industry, having been established in 2023, meaning that the recent order represents one of the company’s first newbuildings to be added to its fleet. Data from Alphaliner indicate that the company has a fleet of nine units, with a combined capacity of 15,218 TEUs.
The latest order speaks to a trend in the shipping industry pertaining to the ballooning number of container vessels being booked in 2024. Namely, at the end of the year, the boxship orderbook hit 8.3 million TEUs—a jump from the 7.8 million TEUs recorded in early 2023.
The recent development comes on the heels of the China-Europe Express service (CEX) launch between Ningbo in China and Germany’s Wilhelmshaven ports. As disclosed, to ensure a “uniquely” fast maritime connection between Asia and Northern Europe, the service is intended as a direct route exclusively, meaning there would be no calls at other ports.
As informed, the start of a continuous schedule is planned for mid-2025. In addition to the waterside connection between the two continents, plans to establish a continuous hinterland transport service by rail from Wilhelmshaven to Budapest are reportedly underway.
The initiator of the new connection is said to be Zhejiang Seaport Logistics Group, which set up operations in Wilhelmshaven in 2023 on an area covering roughly 33,000 square meters within the P3 Logistics Parks. The project itself was formalized during the opening of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), a trade fair held every autumn since 2018 in Shanghai China.
Aside from Kawa Shipping and Zhejiang Seaport Logistics, the declaration of intent was also signed by the Central European Trade and Logistics Cooperation Zone (CEZC) and container terminal Wilhelmshaven JadeWeserPort (CTW JWP).
As per the Hong Kong Maritime Hub, the Panama-flagged 30,300 dwt Kawa Ningbo boxship made the inaugural voyage via the CEX service on December 30. The 199.9-meter-long Sub Panamax container freighter is currently on its 26-day trial journey—initially loaded with 2,400 TEUs according to JadeWeserPort—and is expected to reach Wilhelmshaven on January 24.
It was disclosed that, with the first voyage, Kawa Shipping aims to test the introduction of this shipping express to further optimize transport times and ‘increase’ logistics reliability. More precisely, the overarching goal is described as an effort to smoothly connect the European hinterland —including the CECZ in Hungary—through the trimodal connectivity of the JWP.