MSC takes orderbook above 2m teu with Henglimegamax orders

MSC has tapped one of its new favourite yards, Hengli Heavy Industry, formerly known as STX Dalian, for ten 24,000 teumegamaxes in a deal estimated to cost somewhere in the region of $2.35bn, small change for a line that is estimated to have been earning around $1.8bn a month during the third quarter this year, based on cumulative Q3 liner results.

MSC signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Hengli Heavy earlier in the year under which the Swiss-headquartered line would use the yard for ship orders, engines, repair and conversion work. In September, MSC ordered 10 LNG dual-fuel 21,000 teu ships at the northern Chinese yard.

This latest series of 24,000 teu ships will deliver from 2028 onwards and once confirmed would take MSC’s orderbook to 2.13m teu, larger than the existing fleet of Ocean Network Express (ONE), the world’s sixth largest liner.MSC has been gearing up for years to go it largely alone on the main east-west tradelanes, something that will happen from February 1 next year, when its 10-year partnership with Maersk in the 2M alliance comes to an end.

It is not just newbuilds where the Soren Toft-led line has been highly active. MSC has now surpassed 400 secondhand ship purchases since it embarked on a historical buying spree in August 2020. MSC now commands a global liner market share in excess of 20%, becoming the first liner in the world to break multiple size records such as surpassing 5m teu, then swiftly afterward 6m teu.

Alphaliner listed this week another three secondhand ships bought by the Gianluigi Aponte-founded liner.