Recently, the world's sixth ranked shipping company, Herbert Roth, announced the construction of five 10500TEU container ships, which will be put into operation on the South American route crossing the widened Panama Canal after completion. This has added another spark to the recent trend of ordering super large container ships.

Since the beginning of this year, multiple shipping companies around the world have placed orders for ultra large container ships in the market, with a remarkable concentration and volume. At the same time, the competition for these orders among shipping companies from various countries is also becoming intense. South Korean shipping companies, emerging Chinese shipping companies, and "upstream" Japanese shipping companies that have taken the lead in this market are all leveraging their respective advantages to attract shipowners and seize market share.

A

Large container ship order concentration

The ordering of ultra large container ships has recently shown a resurgence trend, with more and more shipping companies entering the ranks of ordering ultra large container ships.

In March of this year, merchant ship Mitsui announced an order to build six 20150TEU container ships. Subsequently, France's Daffy announced further expansion of its fleet, including ordering three 20600TEU ultra large container ships to be delivered in 2017. And Dongfang Overseas has become the third shipping company in the liner market this year to order 20000 TEU class container ships. In the same month, members of the CKYHE alliance, COSCO Container Shipping Co., Ltd. and Yangming Shipping Co., Ltd., announced that they had ordered 22 ultra large container ships with a total value of over 3 billion US dollars. Among them, COSCO Shipping has ordered 11 20000TEU ultra large container ships and hopes to receive new ships starting from the second half of 2017. Yangming Shipping will order 11 container ships ranging from 18000 to 20000TEU. On April 9th, COSCO Holdings Limited announced that it would order at least 10 19000TEU container ships, with an estimated total investment of $1.4 billion. In addition, industry insiders have revealed that Maersk Shipping, the initiator of ultra large container ships, has issued bidding notices to shipping companies for 5 orders of 14000TEU container ships and will order 4 19000TEU class container ships this year, while signing alternative contracts for 2 similar ships.

After this round of centralized ordering of ultra large container ships, the global shipping companies that own and order 16000 TEU and above ultra large container ships have included Maersk Shipping, Mediterranean Shipping, Dafei Shipping, China Shipping, Arab Shipping, Evergreen Shipping, Merchant Shipping Mitsui, Yangming Shipping, China Ocean Shipping, and others. This also means that the four major alliances in the liner market -2M, G6, CKYHE, and O3- all have ultra large container ships at the alliance level. From the comparison of large container ships in the four major alliances, it can be seen that Maersk Shipping and Mediterranean Shipping, consisting of 2M, are clearly in a leading position, with Mediterranean Shipping having a trend of catching up with Maersk Shipping in terms of order volume; O3 relies on the flywheel ship to closely follow; CKYHE mainly relies on Evergreen Shipping and COSCO Shipping to catch up; G6, on the other hand, has accelerated the pace of ultra large container ordering by relying on the six 20150TEU ship orders just confirmed by merchant ship Mitsui.

Industry experts analyze that there are two reasons why shipping companies are "catching up" with each other to order ultra large container ships. Firstly, ultra large container ships do indeed have economies of scale. Maersk Shipping, which first owned ultra large container ships, has achieved impressive performance in recent years, especially in the past two years, which is believed to be largely attributed to the economies of scale brought by ultra large container ships. This demonstration effect has sparked the enthusiasm of other shipping companies to order ultra large container ships. The second is the need for the operation of shipping alliances and the pressure from competitors. After completion, most of the ultra large container ships ordered this time will be arranged on the Asia Europe routes with the most cooperation among alliance enterprises, as the alliance's cargo collection quantity can best meet the requirements of ultra large container ships to achieve economies of scale. Shipping alliances that do not yet have super large container ships are inevitably at a disadvantage in terms of cost, efficiency, and influence. Analysis firm Drury believes that the rush to order ultra large container ships is a "herd mentality" and a phenomenon that has emerged in the industry after Maersk Shipping upgraded three times to build large container ships.

B

Who's the most competitive family in Hualuo

Compared to the initial construction prices, the construction prices of ultra large container ships are continuing to decline. The highest price for 13000 TEU container ships in 2008 was $175 million, and the lowest price dropped to $106 million in 2013. Maersk Shipping ordered an average price of $185 million for 18000 TEU container ships at Daewoo Shipbuilding in South Korea in 2011, while China Shipping Corporation ordered a price of only $136.5 million for 19100 TEU container ships at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea in 2013. In this wave of ordering, the average price of 20000 TEU container ships is around $136 million, with a significant decrease in prices.

The continuous decline in the prices of ultra large container ships is not only due to the increasingly mature construction technology and mass production, but also to the increasing number of shipbuilding companies with construction capabilities and increasingly fierce market competition.

South Korean shipping companies were the first to engage in the design and construction of ultra large container ships, and have been accepting orders for this type of ship series since 2005. At present, six South Korean shipping companies have the ability to build ultra large container ships, including Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding Ocean, Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, STX Group, Hanjin Heavy Industries, etc. According to Li Yuan, a senior engineer at the 708th Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, after years of development, several Chinese shipping companies and some Japanese shipping companies have also joined the ranks of constructing ultra large container ships. Currently, there are 7 shipping companies in China, including Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., Dalian Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd., Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., Nantong COSCO Kawasaki Shipbuilding Engineering Co., Ltd., and Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., which have the ability to build container ships of 10000 TEU or above, But only Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding is the shipbuilding company that builds 18000 TEU class container ships. Since 2013, with the depreciation of the Japanese yen, Japanese shipping companies have become more competitive internationally, and some top shipping companies have also begun to explore the ultra large container ship market. Since 2013, Japanese shipping companies have received a total of 36 orders for ultra large container ships. There are three Japanese shipping companies with the ability to build this type of ship: Hiroshima Shipyard, Maruki Shipyard, and Japan Maritime United Company. They have so far undertaken orders for 15, 13, and 8 ultra large container ships, respectively.

In this year's order surge, six 21100TEU container ships from Dongfang Overseas were ordered by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea. The three 20600TEU ultra large container ships of Dafei Shipbuilding were built at Hanjin Heavy Industries' Subic shipyard in the Philippines. Herbert announced the construction of five 10500TEU container ships, which will ultimately be undertaken by Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea. The builders of Maersk's 4+2 19000TEU class container ships will emerge in the ocean of Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding. Yangming Shipping is inclined to build 11 20000TEU class ultra large container ships in South Korean shipping companies. The 20150TEU ultra large container ship of the merchant ship Mitsui will be built at Jinzhi Shipbuilding. The 11 orders for the 20000TEU class ultra large container ships of COSCO Shipping will be obtained by two companies, namely Shanghai East China, Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, Dashan Heavy Industry, and Nantong COSCO Kawasaki. At least 10 orders for 19000TEU container ships from COSCO will be decided by the end of May, and it is said that the builders will be Chinese shipping companies.

From this perspective, Korean companies are still the biggest winners in this wave of ultra large container ship ordering. Li Yuan stated that Korean shipping companies have strong capabilities in both design and construction technology, as well as in construction management and quality control. As of now, South Korean shipping companies have received a total of 315 orders for ultra large container ships, equivalent to 73.4% of the world's total orders for this type of ship. Therefore, the distribution of orders this time is not surprising.

C

Exhibition Director of Three Kingdoms Shipbuilding Enterprises

Although South Korean shipping companies currently have the greatest advantage in the ultra large container ship market, the catching up momentum between Japanese and Chinese shipping companies, as latecomers, is also astonishing, and they have considerable strength in "conquering cities and territories". This has led to a tripartite situation in the market for ultra large container ships.

Korean shipping companies currently hold the largest share in the ultra large container ship market and have a monopoly position. South Korean shipping companies have a short delivery cycle and strong continuous delivery ability, able to deliver one ultra large container ship in an orderly manner every month, which is also the main gap between China and South Korea in the construction of ultra large container ships, "Li Yuan said.

South Korean shipping companies attach great importance to technological reserves and have always invested heavily in research and development. Many innovative conceptual designs for ship types have started from South Korean shipping companies, and ultra large container ships are no exception. They have achieved many results, especially in ship environmental protection technology and automated construction. At the 2014 Hamburg Maritime Show, Hyundai Heavy Industries released the concept design "Skybench" for a type of ultra large container ship. This design is suitable for various large double island container ships, further increasing the loading capacity and compensating for the loading losses caused by the use of gas power in ultra large container ships. Meanwhile, there are reports that the Korean Institute of Shipping and Marine Engineering (Kosori) has started developing 25000 TEU container ships. These all indicate that South Korean shipping companies are constantly moving forward in the research and development of ultra large container ships, thereby further enhancing South Korea's competitiveness in this field.

Japan, another major shipbuilding country, although has a good foundation in ship design and construction, started relatively late in the construction of ultra large container ships and had not received any orders for ultra large container ships before 2013. This is mainly because in recent years, Japan's shipbuilding competitiveness has been significantly weaker than that of China and South Korea, and Japan's development of the shipbuilding industry is based on the principle of seeking stability. It is not willing to invest in large-scale hardware facilities and is more inclined to work in management, automated construction, and quality control. In addition, Japanese shipbuilding companies are relatively conservative in the development of ship types and tend to bulk shipbuilding to minimize risks and increase profits, In recent years, the vast majority of orders have been for bulk carriers. However, once Japanese shipping companies decided to expand into the ultra large container ship market, they made rapid progress with their technological advantages.

China, one of the "Three Kingdoms", is rapidly developing in the market for ultra large container ships and is catching up, currently accounting for nearly 30% of the global market share. According to Li Yuan, Chinese shipping companies have been receiving orders for ultra large container ships above 10000 TEU class since 2005. At that time, Nantong COSCO Kawasaki received four 10000 TEU class container ships from COSCO Holdings Limited. These ships were delivered between 2008 and 2009, becoming the first batch of orders for ultra large container ships built independently by China. In 2011, the seven 10000TEU class ultra large container ships built by Canada's Sisban Company in Jiangsu New Yangzi Company and Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding Company adopted a design scheme with Chinese independent intellectual property rights. At this point, the design and construction of China's ultra large container ships has taken a substantive step. So far, Chinese shipping companies have received a total of 51 orders for ultra large container ships. From the perspective of the scale of the ships built, 68.6% of the orders undertaken by Chinese shipping companies are of 10000TEU class, with the largest being 18000TEU class. From the perspective of shipowner composition, the orders of Chinese shipping companies mainly come from their own country, Canada, and there are also three ships from Japan, which have certain international competitiveness. Among them, domestic shipping companies have considerable orders, and the huge domestic market has become a great advantage and sustained driving force for China's design and construction of ultra large container ships.

Li Yuan stated that although China's design and construction of ultra large container ships did not start early, the pace of catching up was fast, and they already have independent intellectual property rights. They have formed a batch of green, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly design solutions with advanced performance indicators, such as 10000TEU, 11000TEU, 13500TEU, 14000TEU, 16000TEU, 18000TEU, 20000TEU, 21000TEU, and have achieved actual ship construction, obtaining multiple batches of orders, The construction of some ship types is no longer inferior to similar ships in South Korea.

Industry experts say that against the backdrop of increasing demand for ultra large container ships by shipping companies, especially as Chinese shipping companies sell more orders for ultra large container ships, research and development and construction units of ultra large container ships in China are facing a rare opportunity. Of course, in order to truly seize the opportunity, China's shipbuilding industry still needs to do more work in ship type research and development optimization, construction technology level improvement, and other aspects to further enhance international competitiveness, obtain more orders, and have stronger market control in the field of ultra large container ships.

Collaborated and published by the Lianying team, hacked and deleted