China Shipping Group's CSCL has agreed a deal to bareboat charter up to 11 units of 21,000 teu containerships, of which five will be options exercisable after six months of charter for the first six ships, says local media reports.
It has confirmed the 21,000 teu containerships to be built at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS). The ships will be chartered from China Shipping Nauticgreen Holdings, subsidiary of China Shipping (Group) Company.
“The charter hire is determined by reference to the market freight rates for liners in the Far East and Europe trade lanes during the past five years (2010 to 2014),” CSCL said, adding that it expects to generate profits from the vessel charters.
The company said the decision was made to “uphold the low-carbon environmental protection concept of operations, comply with the current developing trend of the large-scale shipping market, and to further optimise the fleet structure of the Group.”
The mega-sized containerships are to be designed by the 708 Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC).
The vessels will be classified by both China Classification Society (CSSC) and Lloyd’s Register (LR). Further contract details were not revealed. The shipbuilder SWS, subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), has been focusing on building large containerships.