Up to 19 ships! New Era Shipbuilding wins EPS dual fuel container ship order again

Singapore shipping giant Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) returns to the new era of shipbuilding and orders LNG dual fuel ultra large container ships again.

According to Trade Wind News, EPS has recently confirmed the execution of alternative orders for shipbuilding in the new era, adding 4 18000TEU dual fuel container ships, the same as the previous 8 ships. All 12 new ships will be leased by French company Dafei and are planned to be delivered between 2027 and 2028. The cost of each new ship is about 204 million US dollars, and the total transaction amount is about 2.45 billion US dollars (approximately 17.451 billion yuan).

As a reference, Clarkson's data shows that the current price for a new LNG dual fuel 22000/24000 TEU container ship is $273 million, an increase of 19% from $230 million in the same period last year.
EPS signed an 8+4 LNG dual fuel 18000 TEU container ship construction contract with New Era Shipbuilding at the end of June this year, and the latest 4 are among the alternative orders.

In addition to these 12 18000 TEU dual fuel ships, Clarkson's data shows that EPS signed an order for 4 8400 TEU container ships with New Era Shipbuilding at the end of June, which will be delivered in 2026. It is reported that this contract also includes three additional alternative orders for ships of the same type, each with a cost of approximately 130 million US dollars. After the confirmation of the alternative orders, the total value of all seven ships will exceed 900 million US dollars (approximately 6.411 billion yuan).

It is understood that EPS is a well-known company with a 60 year history of excellence in the shipping industry, one of the world's largest independent shipowners, headquartered in Singapore, with 6000 seafarers and over 450 shore based employees. It manages a diversified fleet of more than 270 ships, including bulk carriers, container ships, tankers, oil tankers, LPG, LNG, with a total deadweight tonnage of 28 million tons and an average age of no more than 10 years, including more than 80 dual fuel ships. In addition, EPS holds over 100 new ship orders that will be delivered and put into operation over the next five years.

Since 2021, EPS has been active in the new shipbuilding market, ordering over 120 new ships from shipyards in China, Japan, and South Korea. This includes container ships, automobile transport ships, VLACs, Suezmax oil tankers, Newcastle max bulk carriers, and LNG transport ships. According to Clarkson's data, as of now, EPS has ordered 56 new ships this year. Except for two 210000 deadweight ton bulk carrier orders from Japan Shipbuilding Union (JMU), the remaining 54 orders are all undertaken by Chinese shipyards, including 8 bulk carriers, 8 automobile transport ships, 10 LPG ships, 12 container ships, and 16 oil tankers.

By the end of 2028, after all new ships under construction are delivered, the fleet size of EPS is expected to exceed 300 ships.

Since June this year, New Era Shipbuilding has returned to the container ship new shipbuilding market, taking on 36 consecutive container ship orders, all of which are LNG dual fuel ships, almost half of its total order volume of 72 ships this year. In 2023, the container ship order volume of New Era Shipbuilding will be zero.

In order to meet the growing demand for shipbuilding, New Era Shipbuilding plans to invest 5 billion yuan to expand production capacity and create new energy ship intelligent manufacturing projects. The project will construct a 700 meter long super large dry dock that can accommodate two VLCCs side by side and also accommodate two VLCC half ship sections side by side. After completion, New Era Shipbuilding will have four dry docks.

New Era Shipbuilding is the first private shipbuilding company in China to construct large dual fuel ships. In recent years, the new era shipbuilding industry has actively responded to the "dual carbon" development strategy, taking the lead in laying out in the field of new energy ships, actively carrying out the production and research and development of LNG dual fuel power ships and LNG fuel tanks, while increasing information technology, digitalization, and intelligent shipbuilding. Through continuous improvement of production processes, production efficiency and capacity have been continuously improved. Currently, the number of orders for LNG dual fuel ships in the new era shipbuilding industry ranks among the top in the country.

According to Clarkson's data, out of a total of 72 new ship orders of approximately 10.91 million deadweight tons undertaken by New Era Shipbuilding this year, as many as 43 vessels with 6.42 million deadweight tons are LNG dual fuel ships, accounting for as much as 59%. As of now, New Era Shipbuilding has a total of 149 orders of 20.933 million deadweight tons, including 8 bulk carriers, 84 oil tankers, and 57 container ships, with delivery scheduled for 2029.