Global shipping company Maersk has reportedly signed a letter of intent with South Korean Shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for a US$2 billion ship order that would see a total of sixteen 14,000 TEU ships being constructed for delivery in 2017, World Maritime News reports Yonhap News Agency as saying.
PTI previously reported that Maersk had placed a massive order for eleven 19,000 TEU ships in a bid to expand on its current portfolio.
Maersk also placed an order prior to this with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering for ten 20,000 TEU ships.
Under the proposed deal with HHI, Maersk have sealed an order for nine ships, with the option of adding an additional seven ships expected to be added to the order.
The number of ship orders is currently storming, with CMA CGM placing a recent order for six 14,000 TEU vessels.
Despite the surge in containership orders, experts such as Goldman Sachs have said that fewer contracts for new builds will ultimately result in increased profits for the container industry.
However, the pace doesn’t look to be slowing down as designers are already in the process of creating a ship that can carry 22,000 TEU, with previous rumours that containerships could reach as much as 24,000 TEU.
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