COSCO Shipping has ordered twelve 24,000 TEU container ships worth almost USD 2.9 billion. The vessels will be fitted with methanol dual-fuel engines.
The contract was signed by COSCO‘s subsidiaries Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) and Cosco Shipping Lines with two shipyards: Nantong Cosco Khi Ship Engineering (NACKS) and Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS). NACKS will build seven ships, DACKS the remaining five.
The first vessels will be delivered in late 2026 and the last in late 2028.
Also read: World’s first type approval for methanol-powered fuel cell system
Largest methanol-powered container ships
COSCO is not the first major container liner to order methanol-powered ships. Maersk was the first and already has nineteen such vessels of 16,000 and 17,000 TEU on order. Just before summer, CMA CGM also ordered six methanol dual-fuel powered container ships of 15,000 TEU. This means COSCO’s will be the largest ordered so far.
Picture by Kees Torn/Wikimedia.
Also read: Maersk orders another six methanol-powered container vessels
