COSCO Shipping has announced an order for 10 new containerships worth US$1.5 billion.
Six of the ships are to have a 14,092-TEU capacity – these are slated for delivery from the end of 2023. Four of the ships will have a capacity of 16,180 TEU and these are expected to be delivered from mid-2025.
The ships are to be built by Cosco Shipping’s affiliate Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou).
According to Alphaliner, Cosco is the third-largest container shipping line in the world, by capacity, with a total capacity of 3 million TEU in its fleet. This represents 12.2% of the world’s total ocean capacity for containers.
Of the company’s 498 containerships, 181 are owned and 317 are chartered. However, going by TEU capacity, only 47.6% of its fleet is chartered.
Cosco’s orderbook comprises 22 ships, and 14.1% of its extant capacity.
