Hanwha Ocean landed a 1.93 trillion won ($1.4 billion) contract from Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport for seven container ships, marking a rare victory for Korean shipbuilders in a market increasingly dominated by cheaper Chinese competitors.
The order for 15,880 TEU liquefied natural gas dual-fuel vessels represents Yang Ming’s strategic pivot away from Chinese shipyards, which typically offer prices about 20% below Korean rivals. The Taiwan-based shipping company appears to be hedging against potential U.S. port restrictions targeting Chinese-built vessels.
Yang Ming, ranked among the world’s top 10 container carriers with 727,000 TEU capacity, specified the ships be “ammonia-ready” for future fuel conversions as environmental regulations tighten. The vessels will feature untested 1.0 bar pressure LNG fuel tanks, an upgrade from the industry standard 0.7 bar design.
Chinese shipbuilders captured 70% of global container ship orders in 2024, up from 52% two years earlier, while Korean yards saw their market share halve to 16%. Industry sources indicate Chinese companies didn’t submit bids for Yang Ming’s latest tender.
For Hanwha Ocean, which absorbed the troubled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2023, the contract provides welcome relief from low-margin legacy orders. The ships will be delivered by early 2029 from the company’s Geoje facility.
