Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) is to take delivery of five new 11,000 twenty-foot-equivalent (TEU) container ships in the second and third quarter this year, the container shipper said on Wednesday.
It would have 95 ships in its fleet with combined capacity of 717,000 TEUs with delivery of the vessels, Yang Ming president Patrick Tu (杜書勤) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
The five new vessels would be used mainly for its US operations, Tu said.
Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
Asked whether Yang Ming had plans to order more new vessels, Tu said that it is cautious about purchases, as environmental regulations for shippers remain unclear.
The company might consider renting vessels, but surging rental rates mean the situation requires close examination, he said.
Yang Ming this year would concentrate on its operations in North America and Europe with the expectation that freights rates and shipping demand in the markets would remain stable amid a decline in COVID-19 infections, the company said.
If it is to order new ships, it would prioritize those with a capacity of 15,000 TEUs, which are suitable for those markets, it said.
It would also consider new ships with capacity of 1,200 TEUs to 1,800 TEUs for Southeast Asian markets, it said.
Freight rates, which have tumbled, are forecast to rebound this month or in May if COVID-19 infections in China slow and the Russia-Ukraine war ends, Yang Ming said, adding that rates are likely to remain comparatively high throughout the year.
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