Hapag-Lloyd is taking its Copiapo-class vessels to China’s Cosco Zhoushan Shipyard to be ‘jumbo-ised’ – bringing them up from 9,324 teu to an estimated 10,200 teu.
The work includes boosting the height of the lashing bridges to increase stack height, allowing two additional containers to be loaded onto each stack.
Corresponding increases will also be made to the height of the funnels and deckhouses, allowing crew to see over, and hot exhaust gases to be vented clear of,the higher stacks. Altogether, the upgrades will allow each vessel to load some 10,200 teu, Alphaliner estimated.
The move follows a similar mid-life upgrade to the smaller Tubul-class vessels at Denmark’s Fayard. But the decision to carry out the latest upgrades in China opens the question of Hapag-Lloyd falling under the USTR’s new port call levy system that proposes a $1.5m fee for Chinese-built vessels calling at US ports.
Four of the vessels, Cautin, Cisnes, Corcovado, and Coyhaque, serve on rotations calling at US ports. The vessels were originally built by Samsung Shipbuilding for Chilean shipping line Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV), and brought into Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet following a merger.
It is unclear as to whether the Korean-built vessels will be considered by the US administration to have been “tainted” by China during the shipyard upgrades. While the legislation is as yet unfinished, it does offer some clues.
The US Ships for America Act, introduced by Senator Mark Kelly, has provisions applying to US-flagged vessels which go for repair at Chinese yards. Section 405 states that “…any US-flagged vessel must pay a duty of 50% for any repairs made on the vessel in a foreign shipyard of an allied country”.
It adds: “This section increases the duty to 200% for any repairs made in shipyards in foreign countries of concern (ie China).”
Hapag-Lloyd told The Loadstar: “We think it is too early to comment, and we do not engage in speculation about this.”
But even with the vessels being neither US-flagged, nor Chinese-built, it appears there is an appetite among US regulators to penalise vessels for undertaking repairs and upgrades in China. Uncertainty remains.