Container ships: The charter market stabilized, the ship breaking market slowed down sharply, and a new round of methanol fuel orders came

According to foreign media reports, mainstream liner companies, including COSCO SHIPPING, CMA CGM, Hapag Lloyd, Evergreen Shipping, Japan Ocean Network Shipping (ONE) and Maersk, are Discuss or negotiate with the shipyard to build more than 40 container ships with a total value of more than 5.5 billion US dollars, and the shipyard has also reserved docking periods for high-profit ships and key customers.

COSCO SHIPPING Orders 4 16,000TEU Methanol Fuel Container Ships

It is reported that COSCO SHIPPING has placed an order with Yangzhou COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry for four 16,000TEU large-scale container ships, and the expected delivery time is from 2025 to 2026. These four ships will all use methanol dual-fuel main engines WinGD 10X92DF-M.

Previously, OOCL and COSCO SHIPPING Lines, a subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING, signed shipbuilding agreements with COSCO Nantong Kawasaki and COSCO Dalian Kawasaki respectively, ordering a total of 12 24,000TEU methanol dual-fuel powered container ships.
As of now, ALPHALINER data shows that COSCO SHIPPING operates 465 containers, about 2.894 million TEU, including 178 self-owned ships and 287 leased ships. In addition, COSCO Shipping also has a total of 49 newbuilding orders of 929,000 TEU.

CMA CGM opts for two-pronged approach to alternative fuels

Alphaliner pointed out that CMA CGM has chosen a two-pronged strategy in terms of alternative fuels to implement the latest environmental protection requirements. Up to now, CMA CGM has ordered 30 methanol fuel ships, about 436,000 TEU.

In addition, it is reported that CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd are currently very interested in ordering 4000TEU methanol fuel container ships. CMA CGM may order up to 10 ships, while Hapag-Lloyd also plans to order 6 ships. The two companies are in discussions with South Korea's Hyundai Mipo, with expected delivery in the second half of 2025 to 2026, brokers said.

Meanwhile, Maersk will take delivery of its first methanol dual-fuel container ship in June this year. Up to now, Maersk has 19 orders for 296,000 TEU methanol fuel container ships. It is reported that Maersk has already made an inquiry in the market, seeking to order another 10 7000-8000TEU container ships.

In addition, Evergreen Shipping is inquiring and ordering six 14,000-15,000TEU container ships, and ONE intends to order up to 10 more container ships of the same size. Yangming Shipping’s bidding for five 15,000-16,000TEU LNG dual-fuel container orders is also in progress. It is reported that the current shipyards have focused on the two shipyards of HD Modern Group and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.

Container ship charter market stabilizes

The container ship charter market is showing signs of stabilization after six months of adjustment. After the rents of some small ships rebounded in the previous few weeks, the rents of large ships also showed a positive trend last week. Not only the rent level has reached the highest level this year, but the charter period has begun to lengthen again, and charterers are also Willing to pay a premium for a shorter lease.

Euroseas, a Greek container ship owner listed on Nasdaq, announced on April 5 that its 4,253TEU container ship "Synergy Keelung" has locked in a new two-year lease at a daily rent of US,000. The vessel is currently chartered at USD 14,500 per day and will expire in April.

Aristides Pittas, Chairman and CEO of Euroseas, said that he is very pleased that the contract of "Synergy Keelong" has been renewed with a first-class charterer. Euroseas believes that the level of rent, especially the period of the charter, all indicate the resilience of the container ship market. After a six-month correction, the container ship charter market has stabilized.

Significant slowdown in shipbreaking market

With the rents of container ships and dry bulk carriers picking up, the ship breaking market is relatively quiet. "The supply of ships available for scrapping has slowed down considerably, with only a few moving into the scrapping market," Clarkson said. "While rent levels are rising, the question is whether they will be sold for scrapping?"

It is particularly worth mentioning that Evergreen Shipping originally planned to dismantle the two 5364TEU "Ever Unific" and "Ever Uberty" ships built in 1999. However, transaction reports indicate that MSC has already purchased both vessels.