OOCL Orders 14 Green-Fuel Megaships in $3B Expansion

Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) is expanding its fleet with an order for 14 new container ships, a deal valued at over $3 billion.

The company, a subsidiary of COSCO, has signed agreements with Chinese shipbuilders Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS) and Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) to construct a series of 18,500 TEU methanol dual-fuel vessels, each priced at around $220 million.

DACKS will be responsible for building nine of the ships, while NACKS will handle the remaining five. The vessels are slated for delivery beginning in 2028, with the final ship expected by the end of 2029.

With this latest order, COSCO’s total number of newbuilds will grow from 19 vessels (352,000 TEU) to 33 ships with a combined capacity of 611,000 TEU, according to figures from Alphaliner.

Taking into account the broader COSCO Group, which also includes a 24,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel class, the group’s orderbook now consists of 64 ships totaling 1.11 million TEU. This places COSCO behind only MSC of Switzerland and France’s CMA CGM, which have orderbooks of 2.13 million and 1.55 million TEU, respectively.

“This investment aligns with our long-term strategy to steadily increase fleet capacity and achieve balanced growth,” the company stated.