A new high has been reached for containership prices.
Media reported last month on Taiwan’s Evergreen contracting for eleven LNG dual-fuel 24,000 teu ships, the orders split between South Korea and China with Hanwha Ocean taking six vessels and CSSC Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) the remainder.
Hanwha Ocean reported to the Korea Stock Exchange that the six ships were costing $267.3m each, something analysts at Alphaliner believe is the highest price ever agreed upon for the construction of a container vessel. On a per-teu basis, it works out at $11,138 per slot.
Newbuild prices have soared in the 2020s, one of the most profitable decades for shipping. As an example, Evergreen’s latest deal works out at more than $100m more per ship compared to the $164m price that Hapag-Lloyd agreed to pay for a series of six – later 12 – Hanwha-built LNG-powered megamaxes contracted in late 2020.
Newbuild prices remain elevated, however, according to Clarksons Research they have eased recently across sectors. Clarksons’ newbuilding price index has ticked down by 1% since the start of the year.