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Sources said on Wednesday that the LoI between Hapag-Lloyd and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding includes 20 LNG dual-fuel containerships.
Under the deal, Yangzijiang will build 8 vessels with a capacity of 9,000 teu and 12 vessels with a capacity of 17,000 teu, the sources said.
According to the sources, the vessels will feature ME-GI propulsion and type C LNG tanks.
The larger 17,000-teu containerships are said to be worth less than $200 million per vessel.
Yangzijiang said in its H1 report that it secured orders for 18 LNG dual-fuel containerships, including 8 9,000-teu vessels and 10 17,000-teu vessels.
The shipbuilder had 52 LNG dual-fuel containerships in its order book as of the end of June this year.
LNG Prime reported in August that Hapag-Lloyd was looking to order more LNG dual-fuel containerships in South Korea and China.
The shipping firm took delivery of its seventh of 12 ultra-large LNG-fueled containerships last month from South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean.
These giant vessels are about 400 meters long and 61 meters wide.
Hapag-Lloyd first ordered six LNG dual-fuel containerships from Hanwha Ocean in 2020, and it added six more sister vessels in 2021. The orders are worth about $2 billion.
Hapag-Lloyd expects to take delivery of the remaining vessels in 2024 and 2025.
In addition to newbuild vessels, Hapag-Lloyd operates the converted containership Brussels Express, the world’s first ultra-large containership LNG retrofit.
In April, this vessel completed what Hapag-Lloyd claims is the largest ship-to-ship bio-LNG bunkering operation in the Dutch port of Rotterdam.
Hapag-Lloyd is also working on a synthetic methane project to further reduce emissions from its fleet of LNG-powered containerships.
The company’s LNG bunker consumption totaled 22,769 tonnes in 2023. This compares to 4,582 tonnes in 2022.