| Samsung Heavy Industries CEO Nam Joon-ou, right, and Evergreen Marine Corp. Chairman Anchor Chang pose after signing a deal on building six 23,000 TEU container ships during a ceremony in Taiwan, Monday. Courtesy of Samsung Heavy Industries |
By Nam Hyun-woo
Samsung Heavy Industries bagged orders for six ultra-large container ships, the combined value of which stands at $920 million, the shipbuilder said Tuesday.
Samsung Heavy CEO Nam Joon-ou and Evergreen Marine Corp. Chairman Anchor Chang signed the deal on building six 23,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container ships. Evergreen is a Taiwanese shipping company.
The ships will be the world's largest container ships, which can carry 23,764 six-meter containers at once. Currently, the world's largest container ship, which was delivered by Samsung Heavy in July, can carry 23,756 containers at once.
Following the deal, Samsung Heavy has 14 23,000 TEU container ships in its order book, which is the largest number among global shipbuilders.
“The demand for ultra-large container ships is expected to continue as global ship owners are making efforts to reduce costs through economy of scale,” a Samsung Heavy official said. “Based on advanced technologies including smart ships and improved energy consumption, Samsung Heavy will keep leading the ultra-large box ships market.”
Samsung Heavy has won 35 orders worth $5.1 billion so far this year, meeting 65 percent of its annual target of $7.8 billion. The orders include 14 crude oil tankers, 11 LNG carriers, six container ships, two product carriers, one special ship and one floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.