News / Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd line up major newbuild order to boost Gemini fleet

Newbuilding activity has continued unabated, as liner operators compete for market share ahead of the reshuffling of container shipping alliances in 2025.

Maersk Line and Hapag-Lloyd, set to launch their Gemini Cooperation in February, have reportedly ordered up to 28 17,000 teu LNG dual-fuel box ships from China’s Yangzijiang Shipbuilding for delivery between 2027 and 2029.

Maersk Line reportedly wants 10 vessels, while Hapag-Lloyd has ordered a dozen, with options for another six, in a combined order estimated at $5.88bn.

“We do not comment on market rumours”, is Maersk Line’s standard response to media queries about newbuilding orders, while Hapag-Lloyd, too, could not provide confirmation to The Loadstar.

But if correct, it would be the first order for new ships by Hapag-Lloyd since 2021 – the German liner is currently taking delivery of ten 23,500 teu vessels from Hanwha Ocean.

Meanwhile, having lost its top ranking to the more aggressive MSC in 2022, Maersk is said to have plans for 32 newbuildings to close the gap with the Geneva-headquartered carrier.

During a conference in Busan last month, it was suggested that the Gemini Cooperation adopting a “hub-and-spoke” strategy was due to insufficient tonnage.

Last week, brokers linked the Danish carrier to orders for six 16,000 teu LNG dual-fuel boxships at New Times Shipbuilding, with options for six more, and it commissioned six similar vessels from South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean on 9 October, for delivery in late 2028. The total contract value is estimated at $1.25bn.

And apart from newbuild orders, Maersk is understood to have chartered five 16,800 teu vessels ordered by John Fredriksen-controlled SFL at New Times in July.

Meanwhile, Cosco ordered six 13,600 teu conventionally fuelled box ships at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding on 28 October, for delivery in 2027. The CNY6.41bn ($900m) order complements that for six similar vessels Seaspan Corp ordered on 18 October for a 15-year charter to Cosco subsidiary OOCL.

The vessels, expected to be deployed to the Far East-South America route, are CNY-denominated as part of Chinese government plans to internationalise its currency.

On the same day, Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines disclosed orders for eight 16,000 teu methanol dual-fuel ships at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea. Ambitious Wan Hai is set to join one of the shipping alliances next year, and the ships, costing $1.6bn, would serve transpacific routes.

Feeder operators have also been active. On Tuesday, Hong Kong-based SITC disclosed it had ordered six 1,800 teu vessels at Huanghai Shipbuilding for $174m, as it looks to own more of its fleet and consolidate its standing as one of the largest intra-Asia carriers.

And further newbuilding orders are coming, if the level of enquiries shipyards are receiving from liner operators is anything to go by. According to Alphaliner, Pacific International Lines (PIL), is negotiating with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, for 9,000 teu LNG dual-fue containerships at $140m each, with delivery expected from mid-2027 to early/mid-2028.