News / Interest in larger tonnage picks up amid flurry of newbuild orders

Sinokor's 5,047 teu Felixstowe Bridge. Photo: VesselFinder

Tonnage providers and operators have been active in latest containership newbuilding orders this week.

South Korea’s Sinokor Merchant Marine is understood to have commissioned four 13,000 teu scrubber-fitted vessels from the HD Hyundai group – a $611.1m order, for delivery in 2028, split between HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Samho.

Sinokor is typically a tonnage provider of large containerships, and operates smaller vessels on intra-Asia routes.

Market talk had it that these orders would be split between Sinokor and Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime Agencies, and HMM would charter the ships.

However, a spokesperson told The Loadstar: “HMM has no plans to charter vessels from Zodiac Maritime or Sinokor. Any mention of charter agreements or letters of intent involving these companies is not accurate.”

Meanwhile, Navios Maritime Partners is said to be close to ordering four 8,000 teu scrubber-fitted, methanol-ready ships at HJ Shipbuilding & Construction. The Angeliki Frangou-led company has four similar vessels under construction there, two of which have been fixed to ONE.

In May, Ms Frangou alluded to the US Trade Representative’s plan to impose hefty port fees on Chinese-built ships calling at US ports and described the situation as a “repositioning” by the country.

She said: “That will mean different trading patterns that will have to be serviced by different vessels with particular specifications, so we are very open to this.

MB Shipbrokers said in its latest report: “Interest in larger tonnage has appeared to pick up, with South Korean yards being very active, given their slightly earlier delivery slots.”

Operator-owned newbuilding orders of note this week include ten 5,000 teu conventionally-fuelled ships for TS Lines at China’s CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, for $625m. The Hong Kong-based regional operator has made good on its plan to use proceeds from its $145m listing on the Hong Kong bourse in November to order newbuildings.

And TS Lines has been ordering newbuildings to increase the proportion of its owned ships in its fleet to counter high charter costs. The company now owns 34 of the 40 ships it operates.

MB Shipbrokers added: “In China, we saw a range of European and Asian buyers aggressively chasing slots, especially for 2,800-5,000 teu types, with several projects coming close to board approval/finalisation. With slot availability tightening, particularly at Chinese yards, we now see shipyards managing to sell slots far into 2028 at the same prices concluded for 2027 slots just one to two months ago.”