Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard has won a total of four feedermax ship orders, from China United Lines (CU Lines) and Greek tonnage provider Cosmoship.
[s2If is_user_logged_in()]CU Lines has commissioned a pair of 1,930TEU vessels at Guangzhou Wenchong, which is part of the state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
CU Lines owns three 599TEU feeder vessels that were built between 2005 and 2007. The newbuilding orders represents an upsizing in the company’s fleet just as CU Lines diversifies into the Asia-North Europe trade, having been primarily an intra-Asia carrier.
Cosmoship has contracted a pair of 1,500TEU vessels, with options for another two ships. The company owns 11 container ships that have been chartered to liner operators such as SITC Container Lines and Korea Marine Transport Company (KMTC Line).
The Cosmoship orders will be of the Kolkatamax design, with Guangzhou Wenchong having built four of these vessels for the Greek owner last year. The ships will be 171.98m long and 24.29m wide and have a speed of 17.5 knots.
Delivery schedules for the CU Lines and Cosmoship orders were not disclosed but it generally takes around two years for shipyards to complete a vessel.
As the liner shipping industry expects record earnings for 2020, operators and tonnage providers have been investing in new vessels in anticipation of increased demand. Vessel databases indicate that in 2020, 89 container ships were ordered.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent[/s2If]
[s2If !is_user_logged_in()]Please login or register to read the rest of the story[/s2If]
