COSCO SHIPPING orders the world's largest methanol dual-fuel container ships: 12 vessels, over 20 billion!

COSCO SHIPPING Group has joined the methanol fuel power camp after Maersk and CMA CGM, ordering 12 of the world's largest 24000TEU methanol-powered container ships at a cost exceeding 20 billion yuan, ushering in a new era of green development for its container fleet.

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings' two subsidiaries order 12 24000TEU container ships from their own shipyard!

On October 28, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings, COSCO SHIPPING Group's container shipping service supply chain listing platform, issued an announcement regarding the order of 12 methanol dual-fuel container ships. Its holding subsidiary Orient Overseas' wholly-owned subsidiary single-ship company and its wholly-owned subsidiary COSCO SHIPPING Lines' subsidiary signed shipbuilding agreements with Nantong COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki and Dalian COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki respectively. A total of 12 24000TEU methanol dual-fuel container ships were ordered at a price of US$239.85 million (approximately RMB 1.71968 billion) per ship, with a total order price of US$2.8782 billion (approximately RMB 20.63612 billion).

Nantong COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki will build 7 24000TEU container ships for Orient Overseas, with delivery expected between the third quarter of 2026 and the third quarter of 2028. Dalian COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki will build 5 24000TEU container ships for COSCO SHIPPING Lines' wholly-owned subsidiary COSCO (Cayman) Mercury Co., Ltd., with delivery scheduled between February 2027 and June 2028.

Orient Overseas currently expects to arrange bank financing for no more than 60% of the transaction price for each vessel before delivery, with Orient Overseas providing financing guarantees. The balance of the transaction price will be paid from internal resources of Orient Overseas and its subsidiaries. COSCO Mercury currently expects to arrange bank financing and corresponding financing guarantees for no more than 60% of the transaction price for each vessel before delivery. The balance of the transaction price will be paid from COSCO Mercury's internal resources.

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings stated that based on the Group's assessment of price, technical capabilities, and delivery schedule, and in accordance with the above requirements, through negotiations and comparisons with major shipyards (including independent third-party shipyards), Nantong COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki and Dalian COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki have comprehensive advantages over independent third-party shipyards in terms of shipbuilding technology, quality control, vessel delivery schedule, and vessel price. In addition, Nantong COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki and Dalian COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki are the builders of the Group's under-construction vessels and are more familiar with the Group's requirements for new vessels. Therefore, Nantong COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki and Dalian COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki were selected as the builders of the ordered vessels this time.

This shipbuilding project is a new initiative by COSCO SHIPPING Holdings to proactively adapt to future competition, actively respond to global customers' green and low-carbon initiatives, follow the new trend of green, low-carbon, and intelligent development of the container shipping industry, and promote the construction of a clean fuel fleet. The 12 container ships ordered this time all adopt advanced green methanol dual-fuel technology and incorporate mainstream advanced concepts in their design and construction. They integrate numerous energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, providing customers with a green and low-carbon comprehensive logistics supply chain solution and satisfying customers' environmental protection needs.

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings' exploration and practice in the development and application of clean ship energy reflects its active implementation of the concept of "energy saving, emission reduction, and green development," its commitment to integrating environmental friendliness into enterprise operation management, its pursuit of sustainable development and harmonious coexistence with the ecological environment, its dedication to achieving carbon neutrality goals, and its sense of responsibility and mission to respect, adapt to, and protect nature.

At the same time, the order of this batch of 24,000TEU container ships is an important measure for COSCO SHIPPING Holdings to promote the balanced global development of its container business, reduce the cost of its route network, and enhance its core competitiveness.

After the delivery of COSCO SHIPPING Holdings' under-construction vessels and the 12 large vessels ordered this time, it will help the company to comprehensively consolidate its competitive advantages on the east-west trunk lines, further accelerate the development of emerging markets, regional markets, and third-country markets, help the company achieve a leapfrog development from global carriage to carriage of the global, improve the profitability and anti-cyclical ability of the fleet, and provide stronger support for the safe, stable, and efficient operation of the global supply chain.

The world's largest methanol-powered ship! COSCO SHIPPING orders dual-fuel container ships for the first time.

It is reported that this is also the first time that COSCO SHIPPING Group has ordered dual-fuel ships. As one of the world's top four container shipping giants, COSCO SHIPPING Group is the only one that has never been involved in any dual-fuel ships. Mediterranean Shipping has ordered a series of LNG-powered ships, Maersk has ordered 18 16000TEU and 1 3500TEU methanol-powered container ships from Hyundai Heavy Industries Group in South Korea, while CMA CGM has continued to order LNG-powered ships over the past few years and ordered 6 15000TEU methanol-powered ships from CSSC this year. With this order, COSCO SHIPPING Group has become the third container shipping company to invest in the construction of large methanol-powered container ships after Maersk and CMA CGM. Considering that the methanol-powered ships previously ordered by Maersk and CMA CGM were all 15000-16000TEU new Panamax container ships, this also means that COSCO SHIPPING Group's order has broken the scale record for methanol-powered container ships.

Since 2020, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings, through its wholly-owned subsidiary COSCO SHIPPING Lines and its indirectly held subsidiary Orient Overseas, has ordered as many as 32 large container ships from shipyards under COSCO SHIPPING Group. In 2020, Orient Overseas ordered the first batch of 12 23000TEU ultra-large container ships from Nantong COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki and Dalian COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki, marking COSCO SHIPPING Group's first entry into the 23000TEU ultra-large container ship category.

In July 2021, COSCO (Cayman) Mercury Co., Ltd., an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Holdings, signed a shipbuilding contract with Yangzhou COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry for 10 new Panamax container ships; in September of the same year, Orient Overseas signed shipbuilding agreements with Nantong COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki and Dalian COSCO SHIPPING Kawasaki, ordering 10 16000TEU container ships. All 32 container ships of COSCO SHIPPING Group use traditional power and are expected to be delivered between 2023 and 2025.

Compared with traditional energy ship fuels, methanol is characterized by the absence of nitrogen oxides and sulfur, and low PM emissions. COSCO SHIPPING Holdings stated that after repeated research and demonstration in the early stage, methanol power technology has advantages such as simplicity, ease of storage and use, low maintenance costs, high safety, and relatively small price market fluctuations. In particular, the continuous establishment and improvement of the green methanol supply chain system has made it stand out from many new energy fuel options and become the company's first choice for promoting the construction of a new energy container fleet.

Alphaliner data shows that COSCO SHIPPING Group currently operates a fleet of 467 container ships with a total capacity of approximately 2.8761 million TEU, including 177 owned vessels and 290 chartered vessels, ranking fourth globally. Simultaneously, COSCO SHIPPING Group also has 34 new vessels under construction totaling approximately 586,700 TEU, with orders on hand accounting for 20.4% of the existing fleet.

According to COSCO SHIPPING Holdings' latest financial report, the group's revenue for the first three quarters of this year reached 316.541 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.75%. The group's container shipping business saw a significant year-on-year increase in per-container revenue on shipping routes, while cargo volume decreased year-on-year; attributable net profit reached 97.215 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 43.74%, with significant growth in the container shipping business and stable growth in the terminal business. In the third quarter, revenue was 105.756 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.68%; attributable net profit was 32.464 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.42%.

In the first three quarters, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings' container shipping business handled approximately 18.53 million TEU, a decrease of 9.36% compared to the same period last year. Although cargo volume decreased slightly, per-container revenue on shipping routes increased significantly year-on-year, resulting in significant overall performance growth compared to the same period last year.