Danish shipping giant Maersk will take on charter a fleet of LNG dual-fuel containerships which will be built at Chinese yards, according to LNG Prime.
Lately, there have been many reports in the shipping industry saying that Maersk is interested in chartering LNG-powered ships.
This move represents a significant turn for the shipping company which has been one of the biggest supporters of methanol-powered ships.
LNG Prime previously contacted Maersk to comment on the charter of LNG-powered vessels, but we did not receive a reply.
Sources told LNG Prime that Maersk is being named as the charterer of up to 37 LNG dual-fuel containerships.
These vessels will be built at China’s New Times Shipbuilding and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.
SFL Corporation recently ordered five LNG dual-fuel containerships worth $1 billion and with a capacity of 16,800 teu from NTS saying that the vessels will go on charter to a “leading liner company”.
Sources said that Maersk is the charterer of these vessels.
Moreover, Seaspan has ordered five LNG dual-fuel containerships with a capacity of 16,000 teu at NTS and these vessels will also serve Maersk, the sources said.
In addition to these orders at NTS, Seaspan is expected to order 22 LNG dual-fuel containerships at Yangzijiang for charter to Maersk, according to the sources.
The order includes 10 17,000-teu vessels and also 12 8,000-teu vessels.
It remains unclear whether Seaspan has already signed a shipbuilding deal for these vessels with Yangzijiang.
Maersk is the world’s second largest container shipping firm after MSC and CMA CGM is the third, according to Alphaliner.
CMA CGM is one of the world’s largest backers of LNG as fuel, while MSC is also heavily investing in LNG dual-fuel vessels.