Taiwanese boxship owner Wan Hai Lines has returned to the newbuilding market, placing an order for six 6,000 teu dual-fuel LNG-powered units as it continues to expand and modernise its owned fleet.
The Taipei-headquartered line said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing the vessels will be built at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding in China. Prices range from $75.2m to $82m per ship, putting the total value of the deal at between $451.2m and $492m.
The newbuildings will be delivered by 2030 and lift Wan Hai’s owned fleet to around 150 vessels.
Wan Hai, ranked 11th globally by capacity according to Alphaliner, said the contract price includes upgraded onboard equipment. The six ships will be LNG dual-fuel ready and are designed to serve regional and intra-Asia trades.
The latest order adds to a sizeable newbuilding programme already underway. Wan Hai has more than 30 ships on order, including an 8,000 teu series at compatriot builder CSBC Corporation and a batch of 16,000 teu vessels spread across South Korean yards HD Hyundai Samho and Samsung Heavy Industries.
Those larger ships were initially ordered as methanol-ready units but were later converted to LNG propulsion, underlining the carrier’s shift toward gas-fuelled tonnage.
