Order 4 more, up to 12 of the world's largest ships! Nanjing Jinling returns to the top of the list

CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, a leading builder of roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ships, has secured an order for four more of the world's largest methanol-powered car carriers, reclaiming its top position in the global order book for car carriers.

On February 27, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the world's largest car carrier company, announced the execution of an option order at Nanjing Jinling, adding four new-generation "Shaper Class" 9300-car methanol dual-fuel car carriers. Delivery of the new vessels is scheduled between May and November 2027.

This series of vessels was jointly developed by Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Deltamarin, a Finnish design company under CSSC, featuring a single-engine, single-propeller design. They can carry approximately 9300 standard vehicles. The cargo holds can also accommodate hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and compressed natural gas vehicles, and the open deck has a container loading area. The vessels meet EEDI 3 and Tier III standards. In addition to methanol fuel operation, they will also incorporate an ammonia fuel reservation design, allowing for immediate retrofitting when ammonia fuel can be safely and reliably used. In the future, the shipowner will also add equipment such as bubble drag reduction, solar energy, and batteries, making it an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly green vessel.

In October last year, Wallenius Wilhelmsen signed a contract with Nanjing Jinling for the construction of 4+4+4 9300-car capacity car carriers, with the first four expected to be delivered in the second half of 2026. After the first option order was finalized, Wallenius Wilhelmsen's order volume at Nanjing Jinling has increased to eight vessels, with an additional four optional vessels pending activation.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen did not disclose the price of the new vessels, but according to ship brokerage firm Fearnley Securities, each vessel is estimated to cost between $120 million and $130 million. Based on this calculation, the value of the currently effective orders is approximately $1 billion (approximately RMB 7.199 billion), and the total amount for all 12 vessels will reach approximately $1.5 billion (approximately RMB 10.798 billion).

In comparison, two 9300-car methanol dual-fuel car carriers ordered by COSCO SHIPPING Lines from another CSSC shipyard—CSSC Jiangnan (Jiangsu)—in March last year cost $96 million each.

These are the largest methanol dual-fuel car carriers to date. Clarkson's data shows that the loading capacity of Wallenius Wilhelmsen's new vessels has reached 9350 cars, exceeding the two 9300-car methanol dual-fuel vessels ordered by COSCO SHIPPING Lines from CSSC Jiangnan (Jiangsu) in March last year.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen's order once set a record for the world's largest car carrier, until December last year when Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Guangzhou Shipyard International received orders from Seaspan Corporation and Hyundai Glovis respectively.

Xavier Leroi, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wallenius Wilhelmsen, said: "Together with our customers, we are committed to further shaping our industry and accelerating the path to net-zero emissions. These new vessels are a significant part of this journey."

According to International Ship Network, Wallenius Wilhelmsen is a privately owned Norwegian/Swedish shipping company established in 1999, jointly owned by Wallenius Lines and Wilh. Wilhelmsen. The company is a global market leader in RoRo shipping and vehicle logistics, vehicle transportation, truck and roll transportation, operating a fleet of approximately 130 vessels serving 32 trade routes across five continents.

It is worth mentioning that last year's order from Nanjing Jinling was Wallenius Wilhelmsen's first order in this round of car carrier orders. Previously, under the impact of the epidemic, the volume of car sea transportation in 2020 plummeted, and Wallenius Wilhelmsen then predicted that the car carrier market would remain sluggish for a long time, and quickly took action to idle at least 10 car carriers in the second quarter of 2020. This proved to be a costly mistake, as the rebound in demand for car carriers in the third quarter of the same year caught the market off guard. Later, the company announced plans to order new vessels in mid-2022 and signed a letter of intent with Nanjing Jinling in August 2023.

It is understood that CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding is the earliest, largest, and most comprehensive manufacturer of RoRo ships in China, with its main ship types being leading or new-generation RoRo ship products. As a core member of CSSC's RoRo ship construction, Nanjing Jinling's core product, "RoRo ships," has been selected as a national manufacturing "single champion" and has been leading the global RoRo ship manufacturing industry for many years.