COSCO Shipping, the world’s fourth largest containerline, has ordered a dozen 14,000 teu ships at a sister firm in Jiangsu province rounding off one of the busiest months for global containership orders ever.
The state-run line is paying $2.15bn for the methanol dual-fuelled ships which will be built at COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Yangzhou
The ships, which will feature substantial reeefer slots, will be deployed on Asia-Latin American tradelanes.
COSCO, the world’s largest shipowner, is a big believer in methanol as a future fuel. Last year it teamed with three other state-run firms – State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC), Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), and China Certification & Inspection Group (CCIC) – to develop a green methanol industrial chain which will comprise the production, transportation, refuelling, and certification of green methanol for ships.