Singapore’s Eastern Pacific Shipping has signed a deal to charter eleven LNG-powered containerships to Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Co.
The dual-fueled vessels will have a capacity of 15,300 TEU, shipbuilding sources told LNG Prime on Tuesday.
MSC also confirmed the charter for eleven LNG dual-fuel vessels in an emailed statement but the firm did not reveal any additional info.
“MSC is committed to investing in a sustainable future and while the pathway for decarbonising shipping is still unclear, with no new fuels available globally at scale to deploy across our fleet of 570 ships, this charter should help us to improve CO2 emissions performance, provide other valuable learnings and keep our options open,” the firm said.
The Geneva-based shipping line added it continues to “envisage a range of fuel solutions on the route to a zero carbon future.”
On the other side, the new deal for EPS follows a charter for up to six LNG-powered dry bulk carriers to mining giant Rio Tinto.
In addition, EPS has already chartered 15,000 TEU LNG containerships to French giant CMA CGM.
According to the EPS website, the company has in total 23 LNG-powered containerships in operation or on order. These include twelve vessels that would go on charter to CMA CGM but also eleven newbuilds scheduled for delivery in 2022-2023, the data shows.