Cosco Books Five Mega Container Ships

China Cosco Holdings Co (CCHC) has placed an order for the construction of five giant 14,500 TEU container ships , thus increasing the newbuilding ships’ capacity from the previously announced
14,000 TEU. The vessels will be constructed by China Shipbuilding Trading and Changxing Shipbuilding for an aggregate sum of USD 618 million. The agreement could be adjusted in the event of delivery delays, container ship speed efficiency, excessive fuel consumption of the newbuildings, or deficiencies in ships’ actual deadweight.

The five newbuildings are expected to be delivered throughout 2017 and 2018. Cosco says that it entered into the agreement in order to upgrade the fleets of the container vessels, and to improve the competitiveness of the shipping fleet as a whole. The financing is planned from internal resources and bank borrowings.