12 ships! New Era Shipbuilding Achieves LNG Dual Fuel Ultra Large Container Ship Orders Again

Following orders from Norwegian shipowners, New Era Shipbuilding has made another major breakthrough in the LNG dual fuel container ship construction market, receiving orders from Singapore shipowners worth up to 12 new ships worth 17.8 billion yuan.

Recently, Singapore's shipping giant Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) placed an order for 8+4 LNG dual fuel 18000 TEU ultra Panamax container ships under New Era Shipbuilding. The specific price and delivery time have not been announced. It is reported that the cost of each new ship exceeds 200 million US dollars, with a total transaction amount of approximately 2.45 billion US dollars (approximately 17.807 billion yuan).

As a reference, according to Clarkson's data, the current price of a new LNG dual fuel 15000-16000TEU container ship is $199 million, an increase of 4% from $192 million in July last year.

Sources say that this batch of new ships will sign a long-term lease agreement with France's Daffy Shipping. It is understood that EPS currently has LNG powered container captains leased to Dafei for operation in its fleet. According to Clarkson's data, the two 6900TEU medium-sized container ships that New Era Shipbuilding will deliver to EPS this year have also been leased to Dafei.

It is understood that Singapore EPS has a history of over 60 years in the shipping industry and has now grown into one of the world's largest independent shipowners. At present, EPS has 6000 employees and manages a diversified fleet of over 270 ships, including four core areas: container ships, dry bulk carriers, liquefied gas carriers, and oil tankers, with a total capacity of 28 million deadweight tons.

Since 2021, EPS has been active in the new shipbuilding market, ordering over 120 new ships from China, Japan, and South Korea shipyards. According to Clarkson's data, in the first half of this year alone, EPS had a total of 28 new ship orders. Except for the two 210000 deadweight ton bulk carrier orders from Japan Shipbuilding Union (JMU), the remaining 26 orders were all taken over by Chinese shipyards, including 8 bulk carriers, 6 car transport ships, and 12 oil tankers. However, the latest orders from New Era Shipbuilding have not yet been counted.

At the same time, EPS is investing heavily in dual fuel ships, mainly LNG powered ships. According to Clarkson's data, out of the 26 new ships ordered by EPS in Chinese shipyards this year, 13 are LNG dual fuel ships, including 6 car transport ships and 7 oil tankers. In addition, with orders from the new era of shipbuilding, more than half of the new ships ordered by EPS this year are LNG powered ships.

According to the sustainability report released by EPS in April, as of March 2024, the company has a total of 57 dual fuel ships in operation, and 51 under construction dual fuel ships will be delivered gradually between 2023 and 2028. These ships are mostly LNG dual fuel ships, while the rest include LPG dual fuel and ammonia dual fuel ships.

For the new era of shipbuilding, EPS's new order is the second LNG dual fuel container ship order it has undertaken in the short term. On July 3rd, SFL Corporation, a subsidiary of Norwegian ship king John Fredriksen, just announced the order to build five LNG dual fuel 16800TEU new Panamax container ships. It is said that this order was received by New Era Shipbuilding.

It is understood that the new era shipbuilding is a leader in the construction of LNG dual fuel ships. In recent years, the new era of shipbuilding has actively responded to the "dual carbon" development strategy, taking the lead 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 informatization, digitization, and intelligent shipbuilding. Through continuous improvement of production processes, production efficiency and capacity have been continuously improved, becoming the first local private shipyard in China to build large LNG dual fuel ships, with LNG dual fuel ship orders ranking first in the country.

Excluding the latest orders from EPS, according to Clarkson's data, New Era Shipbuilding currently holds 104 orders of 14.8812 million deadweight tons, including 73 oil tankers, 22 container ships, and 9 bulk carriers. Among them, 48 are LNG powered ships, including 1 bulk carrier, 27 oil tankers, and 20 container ships, with delivery dates scheduled for 2028.