Taiwanese liner Yang Ming Marine Transport has ordered six 13,650-TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships from South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean in a KRW 1.5527tn ($1.14bn) deal, according to Yang Ming.
The contract was signed on 2 September and disclosed by Hanwha Ocean on 3 September. Its value is equal to 12.1% of the shipbuilder’s 2025 consolidated revenue of KRW 12.7835tn ($9.42bn).
Yang Ming chairman Chuck F.M. Tsai and Hanwha Ocean chief executive Kim Hee-cheol, named Charles Kim in Yang Ming’s English announcement, signed the agreement in Taiwan.
The six 13,000-TEU-class vessels will be built at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje yard in South Korea, with deliveries scheduled for 2028 and 2029 and completion by the second half of 2029. Each ship will have capacity of up to 13,650 TEU and LNG dual-fuel propulsion, with an Ammonia Fuel Ready design.
The vessels will use Type-B LNG fuel tanks with a design pressure of 1.0 bar and will also feature wind shields, rudder bulbs, pre-swirl stators, shore-power systems, smart-ship technology and cybersecurity systems.
Hanwha Ocean’s Type-B tanks use high-manganese steel designed to retain toughness and strength at LNG storage temperatures of minus 163C while offering a cost advantage over nickel-alloy steel and aluminium.
Yang Ming plans to deploy the vessels on core East-West trades linking Asia with the east and west coasts of North America, South America and the Mediterranean.
The contract is the companies’ second major newbuilding agreement in about a year. Yang Ming ordered seven 15,880-TEU LNG dual-fuel container ships from Hanwha Ocean in September 2025, its first newbuilding contract with the South Korean yard, with deliveries also due in 2028 and 2029.
Yang Ming’s board approved the latest six-ship programme in March 2026 as part of a wider fleet renewal plan. The carrier expects 24 new vessels to enter service by 2030: 18 LNG dual-fuel ships — five 15,500-TEU vessels, seven 16,000-TEU ships and the latest six 13,000-TEU vessels — plus six 8,000-TEU methanol dual-fuel-ready ships. It is targeting a fleet of 124 vessels with capacity of 1.25m TEU by 2032.
Yang Ming was established in 1972 and is headquartered in Keelung, Taiwan.
Hanwha Ocean was founded in 1973 and adopted its current corporate name in 2023 after the takeover of its predecessor, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.