Settlement in RMB! The world's largest container ship owner strongly supports Chinese shipbuilding

The world's largest independent container ship owner, Canada's Seaspan, has once again partnered with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding to sign a large order for container ships settled in RMB.

On August 15, China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited and the world's largest independent container ship owner, Canada's Seaspan, held a signing ceremony for a 9,000 TEU container ship construction contract at Hudong-Zhonghua. Attendees included Xu Peng, Chairman of China State Shipbuilding Corporation; Peng Yuanpu, Deputy General Manager; Chen Bing, Chairman, President, and CEO of Canadian Seaspan; Li Kun, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Canadian Seaspan; Wang Zhenyong, General Manager of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Shipping Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.; and Jia Hao, Deputy General Manager.

Prior to the ceremony, Xu Peng held talks with Chen Bing and Wang Zhenyong, expressing gratitude for Seaspan and ICBC Shipping Financial Leasing's long-standing trust and support, and engaging in in-depth discussions on further strengthening exchanges and cooperation to achieve mutually beneficial development.

In his speech, Xu Peng pointed out that Seaspan is the world's largest independent container ship leasing company and has a significant influence in the global shipping industry. It has established and maintained a good cooperative relationship with China State Shipbuilding Corporation. Since 2021, the two parties have worked together to create a model of cooperation in the international shipbuilding and shipping industry chain through a “technical synergy + industrial synergy” model, achieving fruitful results.

Xu Peng stated that China State Shipbuilding Corporation is willing to take this signing as an opportunity to further deepen cooperation with Seaspan in areas such as new ship design development, maintenance and technical upgrades of existing ship types, ship leasing financing and promotion of RMB settlement, and the construction of international service networks, jointly contributing to the sustained healthy development of the industry.

It is reported that the latest batch of orders signed by Hudong-Zhonghua totals 12 vessels, with the specific prices not disclosed. As a reference, in May this year, Hudong-Zhonghua signed a memorandum of understanding with Seaspan for the construction of six 8,300 TEU methanol-ready container ships. At the time, shipbrokers estimated the cost per vessel to exceed US$100 million (approximately RMB 718 million).

According to Clarkson's data, the current newbuilding price for an 8,500/9,500 TEU traditional fuel container ship is approximately US$106 million, an increase of 9% compared to US$97 million during the same period last year.

This signing marks a new height in the cooperation between China State Shipbuilding Corporation and Seaspan. The 9,000 TEU container ships signed by both parties are high-reliability, high-operational-efficiency vessel types customized by China State Shipbuilding Corporation for Seaspan, featuring mature hull designs, efficient propulsion systems, and optimized cargo hold layouts to maximize cargo capacity while ensuring safe and stable navigation.

This series of 9,000 TEU container ships is a new generation of high-efficiency container ships independently developed and designed by Hudong-Zhonghua, tailored to the characteristics of Seaspan's shipping routes. The ships feature seven cargo holds, a dual-island design, and can accommodate 16 rows of nine-layer containers in the cargo holds and 18 rows of 11-layer containers on the deck, with a total container capacity of 9,040 TEU. Through optimized dimensional design, the vessel has a total length of 274.0 meters, a beam of 45.6 meters, a draft of 24.8 meters, a structural draft of 16.0 meters, a design speed of 20 knots, and a range of 25,000 nautical miles, making it an efficient container ship deployed on the Asia-Europe route. The ship's hull form has been optimized using multi-objective coupling technology, combined with an efficient propeller-rudder integrated design and the use of energy-saving ducts, resulting in significant energy savings.

This is the second batch order signed between Hudong-Zhonghua and Seaspan following the contract for the construction of six 13,600 TEU conventional fuel-powered container ships signed in October 2024. It fully demonstrates Seaspan's high recognition of Hudong-Zhonghua's R&D capabilities, brand quality, and market reputation, marking a new level of cooperation between the two parties.

The project utilizes cross-border RMB settlement, with financing services provided by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Leasing, serving as a model of the integration of “Made in China” and “China Finance” in the global shipping and shipbuilding sector. It pioneers a new model for international ship transactions and contributes to the development of a financial powerhouse and manufacturing powerhouse.

Currently, as China's economic and trade scale with other countries continues to expand, the international status of the RMB is steadily rising. RMB internationalization facilitates enhanced economic cooperation between China and countries along the “Belt and Road” initiative, driving better regional economic development. Using RMB settlement helps Hudong-Zhonghua reduce exchange rate risks, enhance profitability, and improve market competitiveness, while also enabling shipowners to lower financing costs and boost trade efficiency.

Notably, the six 13,600 TEU container ships ordered by Seaspan at Hudong-Zhonghua in October last year were also settled in RMB, marking one of the few large-scale shipbuilding contracts directly signed by a foreign shipowner using this new payment method at a Chinese shipyard at the time. This holds significant importance for advancing RMB internationalization. These six vessels will be long-term leased by Orient Overseas and are scheduled for completion and delivery between 2026 and 2028.

Seaspan's latest order represents a rare mid-sized vessel order for Hudong-Zhonghua in recent years. According to Clarkson data, since returning to container ship construction in 2019 with an order for two 23,888 TEU ultra-large container ships from Evergreen Marine, Hudong-Zhonghua has focused exclusively on the construction of large and ultra-large container ships of 13,000 TEU and above. Currently, the only order in its order book below 10,000 TEU is the five 9,040 TEU container ships ordered by Singapore's Pacific International Lines (PIL) in November last year.

According to reports, Seaspan is the world's largest independent container ship owner, offering industry-leading vessel management services. Its business primarily involves providing charter services to major global container shipping companies based on long-term, fixed-rate, and time-charter principles. As of September 30, 2024, Seaspan's operational fleet comprises 218 vessels, with a total capacity of approximately 2.3 million TEU, including vessels under construction.

Last year, Seaspan returned to the container ship newbuilding market for the first time in nearly three years since the summer of 2021, launching a new round of shipbuilding orders. According to Clarkson data, Seaspan placed orders for a total of 41 container ships last year, all of which were constructed by Chinese shipyards, including six 13,600 TEU vessels from Hudong-Zhonghua, 8 9,200 TEU and 5 16,800 TEU dual-fuel LNG-powered vessels from New Times Shipbuilding, and 12 9,000 TEU and 10 17,000 TEU dual-fuel LNG-powered vessels from Yangtze River Shipbuilding.

In April this year, Seaspan placed another order with Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding for the construction of 6 11,400 TEU-class container ships. The project adopts a cross-border RMB settlement model, fully supporting the internationalization of the RMB. This ship type was independently developed and designed by Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, incorporating multiple innovative technologies, achieving international leading levels in energy efficiency optimization and navigation performance. The project innovatively adopts a cross-border RMB settlement model, fully supporting the internationalization of the RMB.

Excluding the latest orders, according to Clarkson's data, as of now, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding has a total of 85 orders on hand, totaling approximately 10.36 million deadweight tons, ranking fourth globally and first domestically among single-shipyards. Among these, there are 56 LNG ships and 29 container ships, with delivery schedules extending to 2031.