PIL orders two containerships from China, its first newbuilds in seven years

Photo: PIL

Singapore’s Pacific International Lines (PIL) has placed newbuilding orders for the first time in seven years, after seeing its fortunes revived amid the soaring freight market.

Sources at Jiangnan Shipyard, part of the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation, confirmed to The Loadstar that PIL has ordered two 13,000 teu LNG-fuelled ships, with options for another two.

Each ship is priced around $160m and estimated to be delivered in late 2024.

PIL’s last newbuilding orders were in October 2015, when it commissioned seven 11,923 ...