en.Wedoany.com Reported - On May 15, Sinotrans Container Lines Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), held a centralized signing ceremony for 12 container ships in Shanghai.

This marks CMES's first large-scale order for its own container ships in recent years, signifying a crucial step in the expansion and upgrade of its container fleet capacity. The total investment for the 12 container ships contracted this time exceeds 5 billion yuan. They will adopt the latest SDARI design and be equipped with intelligent systems such as intelligent ship behavior recognition, intelligent energy efficiency management, and intelligent fouling monitoring, making them green, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly vessels that integrate both economic efficiency and safety.

Zhao Chunji, Member of the Party Committee of CMES and General Manager of Sinotrans Container Lines, Mei Zhonghua, Deputy General Manager of China Merchants Shipbuilding, and Wu Jianyi, Chief Engineer of CMES, attended and witnessed the signing ceremony. Relevant personnel from Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute, China Classification Society, Bureau Veritas, DNV, Hong Kong Haitong Co., Ltd., Shanghai Shuangxi Maritime Development Co., Ltd., and Sinotrans Container Lines participated in the event.

1.3 Billion Yuan! China Merchants Shipbuilding Jinling Shipyard Secures Order for 4 x 3,000 TEU Container Ships

Among them, Sinotrans Container Lines signed a construction contract with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. for four 3,000 TEU container ships.

According to an announcement by CMES in January this year, these four 3,000 TEU container ships will use conventional fuel and be equipped with scrubbers. The total project investment is expected not to exceed 1.324 billion yuan, equivalent to a single ship price of 331 million yuan, with delivery scheduled for 2027-2028.

For reference, Clarksons data shows that the current newbuilding price for a 2,700/3,000 TEU container ship is approximately US$44.75 million (about 304 million yuan), a 3% increase compared to US$43.25 million in the same period last year.

It is understood that China Merchants Shipbuilding Jinling Shipyard received an order for six 1,800 TEU container ships from Singaporean shipowner Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) in July last year, marking its return to the container ship construction market after a four-year hiatus. Prior to that, its last container ship order was in 2021, when Zhonggu Logistics ordered a total of eight 4,636 TEU container ships, which were delivered successively between 2023 and 2024.

Since the first order in July last year, according to Clarksons data, China Merchants Shipbuilding Jinling Shipyard has received orders for 25 new container ships in less than a year, including 17 x 6,000 TEU container ships, which are the largest container ships built by Jinling Shipyard to date.

900 Million Yuan! China Merchants Shipbuilding Qingshan Shipyard Secures Order for 4 x 1,800 TEU Container Ships

Meanwhile, Sinotrans Container Lines signed a contract with China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group Wuhan Qingshan Shipyard Co., Ltd. for four 1,800 TEU container ships.

According to an announcement by CMES last month, the estimated investment for these four 1,800 TEU container ships will not exceed 940 million yuan, equivalent to a single ship price of 235 million yuan. Delivery is scheduled for 2028.

For reference, Clarksons data shows that the current newbuilding price for an 1,800/2,100 TEU container ship is approximately US$32.75 million (about 223 million yuan), slightly higher than the US$32 million in the same period last year.

The 1,800 TEU container ship is one of the main ship types for Qingshan Shipyard after its return to the shipbuilding market in February this year. In April this year, Qingshan Shipyard held a signing ceremony with Zhonggu Logistics for a construction contract for 10 x 1,800 TEU container ships, with a total contract value of approximately 2.7 billion yuan.

It is understood that Changhang Group Wuhan Qingshan Shipyard completed the signing of share transfer and asset handover in February this year, transferring its affiliation to China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group. Leveraging the full industry chain resources of China Merchants Group, it returned to the shipbuilding market, focusing on the manufacturing of small and medium-sized high-value-added vessels such as chemical tankers, multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels, and 1,800 TEU container ships, becoming another important shipbuilding base under China Merchants Shipbuilding.

Qingshan Shipyard was once the largest civilian shipbuilding manufacturer in Hubei Province, having built a total of 630 ships over 69 years, including 218 export vessels. It was hailed as "China's best chemical tanker shipyard" and created numerous industry firsts. In April 2018, responding to the national call for strengthening supply-side structural reform and "capacity reduction," Qingshan Shipyard completely exited the shipbuilding market and shifted into fields such as steel structure manufacturing, ship repair, and conversion.

Public information shows that Qingshan Shipyard completed a major change in investors and enterprise type on March 26: the shareholder changed from China Changjiang Shipping Group Co., Ltd. to Shenzhen China Merchants Offshore Engineering Investment Co., Ltd.; the market entity type changed to Limited Liability Company (Wholly Owned by Foreign-Invested Enterprise Legal Person), officially incorporating its equity into the China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry system. On May 7, Changhang Group Wuhan Qingshan Shipyard Co., Ltd. was officially renamed China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group Wuhan Qingshan Shipyard Co., Ltd.

2.8 Billion Yuan! China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Secures Order for 4 x 8,200 TEU Container Ships

Furthermore, Sinotrans Container Lines signed a construction contract with China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. for four 8,200 TEU container ships.

According to an announcement by CMES last month, these four 8,200 TEU container ships will be equipped with scrubbers and feature a methanol-ready design. The estimated investment will not exceed 2.874 billion yuan, equivalent to a single ship price of 718.5 million yuan. Delivery is scheduled for 2028.

For reference, Clarksons data shows that the current newbuilding price for an 8,500/9,500 TEU conventionally fueled container ship is approximately US$106.5 million (about 725 million yuan), slightly higher than the US$105 million in the same period last year.

This is the second container ship order undertaken by China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu). Previously, in July last year, China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) signed a construction contract with the world's largest container shipping company, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), for six 21,000 TEU dual-fuel LNG-powered container ships, officially entering the container ship construction market. This is also the largest container ship order for China Merchants Shipbuilding to date.

It is worth mentioning that the latest order for 12 container ships is CMES's first own container ship construction contract in recent years. It is understood that CMES's container ship fleet is operated by its subsidiary Sinotrans Container Lines Co., Ltd., and the last time Sinotrans Container Lines ordered container ships was back in 2021, when it ordered two 2,400 TEU ships at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and two 1,100 TEU ships at China Merchants Shipbuilding Jinling Shipyard. All four new ships were delivered by 2023.

CMES pointed out that this newbuilding project for 12 container ships is an important step for CMES to strengthen, optimize, and expand its container fleet, and will drive a leapfrog improvement in the capacity of Sinotrans Container Lines. The 12 ships are expected to be delivered successively starting from 2027. Once put into route operation, they will effectively enhance the service capability and coverage breadth of relevant routes, better respond to the diversified needs of customers, fully support Sinotrans Container Lines in building a first-class fleet, and continuously enhance its core competitiveness.

According to Alphaliner data, as of now, the fleet operated by Sinotrans Container Lines comprises 44 container ships, including 19 owned vessels and 25 chartered vessels, with a total capacity of 71,142 TEU, ranking 29th globally in terms of capacity.

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