MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

MSC shopping for up to 24 dual-fuelled 8,000 TEU ships

MSC, which recently became the first liner in the world to have a 5m slot fleet, has a giant order book of new builds, with more than 1.5m slots on order

World’s largest container line, Mediterranean Shipping C, MSC, is shopping again in Asia for more new builds. Maersk Broker is reporting MSC has approached top yards in China and South Korea for a new series of dual-fuelled 8,000 TEU ships, with MSC tipped to be enquiring for both LNG and methanol dual-fuel vessels.

MSC, which recently became the first liner in the world to have a 5m slot fleet, has a giant order book of new builds, with more than 1.5m slots on order, equivalent in size to the extant fleet of Japan’s Ocean Network Express (ONE), the world’s seventh largest liner.

Maersk Broker has also given an update on another big box-ship order, which has been months in the making.

Samsung Heavy Industries and Japan Marine United are in “pole position” to secure Evergreen’s project for twenty-four 16,000 TEU ships, Maersk Broker reported in its latest weekly container report, with the two yards likely to split the order with Samsung Heavy as builder of the lion’s share of vessels.