Like their competitors in Korea and Japan, China’s shipyards are benefiting from the current newbuilding boom. Some German shipowners are also among the current clients – not only from the container shipping segment[ds_preview]
In various shipping segments, more and more shipowners are able to bring themselves to order newbuildings in view of the good rate development. On the occasion of this year’s Marintec trade fair, we take a look at the Chinese order situation.
The familiar game of calculating top positions is of course now being played again. Depending on how one calculates which factor and which factor is perhaps not included, different rankings of the largest shipbuilding nations can emerge – so we will refrain from doing so here. What is clear is that China unsurprisingly plays a major role in the latest newbuilding developments. From January to August alone, newbuildings for 49.1 mill. t deadweight are said to have been ordered in the People’s Republic, an increase of more than 20 %. The shipyards’ order book thus comprises just over 90 mill. t. By comparison, the figure was 28.6 % lower at the end of 2019, when the last Marintec took place.
440 container ships on order
One important aspect – although not the only one – is the wave of newbuilding activity in container shipping in recent weeks and months. The industry’s order book comprises more than 23 % of the fleet in service or 5.72 mill. TEU. The latest freight and charter rate trends have left a clear mark. By way of comparison: around twelve months ago the order book accounted for »only« 10.4 % of the fleet in service, with 2.4 mill. TEU on order.
For container shipping, market intelligence provider Alphaliner counts 440 orders for Chinese shipyards. 128 of the ships ordered are in the segment above 10,000 TEU, 72 are between 5,100 and 10,000 TEU, another 185 are smaller than 3,000 TEU, while another 55 units are between 3,000 and 5,100 TEU. The total capacity of the ships ordered is 3.2 mill. TEU. In Korea, Japan and the »rest of the world« the order books include 177 and 63 respectively and three container ships of 2.1 mill. TEU, 0.4 mill. TEU and 6,616 TEU. In contrast to the last Marintec edition, according to the information, a Chinese shipbuilding company is currently also ahead in the ranking of ordered capacity. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding reports 829,700 TEU or 116 ships in its order book. It is followed by the three Korean heavyweights Samsung (769,000 TEU / 53 ships), Hyundai (568,000 TEU / 38 ships) and Daewoo (537,000 TEU / 29 ships). Apart from Imabari from Japan in 7th place and Hyundai Samho in 14th place, only Chinese shipyards follow in places 5–15. At the end of 2019, Samsung, Imabari and Daewoo were at the top.
Since the beginning of the year, non-operating owners have ordered not less than 113 ships with a total of 454,000 TEU in the size segments from 1,300 to 7,000 TEU, according to Alphaliner. Especially the tramp shipping companies from Germany, once the dominant force in container shipping but largely absent from the newbuilding front in recent years, have been busy ordering container ships again – also in China.
One example is the Bunnemann family. Back in May, the Asiatic/Atlantic Lloyd shipping group announced one of the first newbuilding orders from Germany. In addition to the two Post-Panamax units with 7,100 TEU each that were firmly ordered from DSIC in China at the time, options for two identical ships were agreed – and have now been redeemed. In the design, special attention had been paid to efficiency and the use of alternative fuels. With a length of 255 m and a width of 42.8 m, the new freighters are to be given the class notation »Ammonia Fuel Ready«. MAN’s engines can run on both conventional and bio-fuels and could be converted to »green ammonia« by means of minor modifications in order to be able to operate with zero CO2 emissions in the future.
The Briese Group from Leer is also active. Four container feeders with 1,800 TEU have been ordered from Huanghai Shipbuilding. This doubles the number of container ships ordered. Only two months ago, Briese had ordered four somewhat larger units with 1,930 TEU from CSSC in China.
The Vega shipping company from Hamburg, managed by the Brügge family, returned to the Yangfan shipyard in China with newbuilding orders after years of abstinence. Four feeder ships with a capacity of 1,868 TEU each were ordered. The decisive factor was the fast delivery time: The newbuildings are all scheduled for completion as early as 2022.
The shipping company Nordic Hamburg ordered »LNG ready« container ships for which there is already a long-term charter. A total of three ships, each with a capacity of 1,400 TEU, will be built in China. The order was inked with the Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu shipyard, with deliveries scheduled for late 2023 and 2024. The newbuildings are similar to those sailing for the Finnish shipping company Containerships – a subsidiary of the French group CMA CGM. However, they are not equipped with LNG propulsion from the outset, but are fitted with a dual-fuel engine and are thus considered »LNG ready«.
Tankers and Bulkers
The Schoeller Group also decided to build new ships. In April, two 2,700 TEU newbuildings were ordered, later two more were added. The order from Schoeller’s subsidiary Green World went to the Guangzhou Wenchong shipyard at a price of $ 32 million each. All four newbuildings are scheduled for delivery between mid-2023 and March 2024. In addition to the four 2,700 TEU vessels, Green World has ordered as many 1,930 TEU Bangkokmax feeders (including options) from Guangzhou for $ 26 million each, to be ready by 2023.
Chinese shipyards also received orders from Germany in other segments. Hartmann Reederei from Leer has launched a second newbuilding programme for gas tankers. The company has signed an order with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding in China (Jiangsu Province) for three LPG/ammonia tankers with a cargo capacity of 40,000 m³ each. The vessels will be built by Yangzijiang’s joint venture company Yangzi-Mitsui and Japan’s Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding. They are part of a series of orders for a total of 14 ships that Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was able to land within a few weeks. These include container ships of various sizes, chemical tankers and bulk carriers. This is the second newbuilding programme for Hartmann Reederei within 15 months. In the spring of 2020, three smaller gas tankers with a capacity of 5,000 m³ each were ordered from CIMC Pacific Offshore Engineering.
The Hamburg-based shipping company H. Vogemann expanded its newbuilding programme with two more Handysize bulkers from China. Vogemann had ordered four »Green Dolphin« vessels (40,500 tdw) from China in summer, adding to a series of newbuildings started two years ago. Now two options have been taken, brokers reported. These latest orders have also gone to the Yangfan Group. The first newbuildings in the series, which started in 2019, were built by Jiangsu New Yangzijiang before the shipping company switched to Yangfan and ordered four ships there in early summer. Part of the agreement at the time were also the two options that have now apparently been withdrawn. Only a couple of days later, four Kamsarmax newbuildings were ordered by Vogemann, to be built by Jiangsu Hantong.
Bulker giant Oldendorff Carriers also inked newbuilding contracts in China. A series of eco Kamsarmaxes was ordered: five firm vessels and seven options.
MPP and Heavylift
Another order could soon come from the multipurpose sector. Shipowner Heinrich Schoeller is planning newbuildings for the subsidiary AAL Shipping. As the shipping veteran with roots in Hamburg confirmed to HANSA, he is negotiating with Guangzhou Wenchong in China for an order for four large MPP ships with 32,000 tdw and 3 x 350 t gears each. Accordingly, the first two vessels could be delivered in 2024 and the other two in the first half of 2025. In addition to the combined lifting capacity of 1,050 t, the new freighters will also be able to accommodate up to 2,000 TEU. (MM)
