News / Wan Hai eyes demand potential on its core trades and orders more ships

Photo: Wan Hai Lines

Wan Hai Lines has commissioned up to 20 new containerships, as liner operators and tonnage providers see demand rising again on on Far East-Middle East/India trades.

The Taiwanese carrier yesterday announced it had ordered a dozen 8,000 teu ships from compatriot ship builder CSBC Corp, with options for another four, and four 8,700 teu vessels from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Samho.

To be delivered between 2026 and 2027, the methanol dual-fuelled ships will cost Wan Hai $1.68bn to $2.5bn.

Primarily an intra-Asia carrier, Wan Hai began offering standalone transpacific services in 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic saw freight rates reaching historical highs. It also has Far East-South America services suitable for the new ships.

In June, Wan Hai GM Tommy Hsieh said at the AGM that the carrier was exploring newbuilding orders for both large box ships and feeders that run on alternative energy sources. Shortly after that, Wan Hai acquired two 7,000 teu newbuilding resales from China United Lines for around $188m.

Linerlytica analyst Tan Hua Joo told The Loadstar: “Wan Hai already deploys 13,000 teu ships on the transpacific and Latin America routes, so these 8,000 teu ships are most likely aimed at the Indian subcontinent and Middle East routes.”

Container volumes on the Far East-Middle East/India lanes have been flourishing as more Indian companies are sourcing materials from the Far East to avoid soaring freight rates and transit times from Europe.

Wan Hai’s latest round of newbuildings was announced in conjunction with its H1 24 results, which showed revenue up 31%, to $2.02bn, while net profit nearly quadrupled, at $498.14m.

The Red Sea crisis inflated freight rates for the first half of 2024, as the detours round the Cape of Good Hope tied up tonnage.

Shipbroker Clarksons said in a recent report that boxship newbuilding orders had been revitalised, as the crisis caused freight and charter rates to reach levels not seen since the pandemic.

Eighty-nine container vessels, for 1.2m teu, were commissioned in June and the first half of July, the highest run-rate since the pandemic-induced boom, when 910,000 teu of new ships were ordered on a quarterly average between 2021 and 2022.