Namsung Shipping has ordered a pair of modern and efficient 1,000TEU container ships as the South Korean feeder operator continues to renew its fleet.
The company announced on 8 July 2020 that it signed a newbuilding contract with compatriot Dae Sun Shipbuilding & Engineering, a month after taking delivery of two similar vessels from the same shipbuilder.
The contract was signed by Namsung’s chairman Kim Young-chi, CEO Kim Yong-gyu, as well as Kwon Oh-kyu, president of the company’s in-house ship management company, Magellan Marine Solutions, Dae Sun’s president, Lee Soo-geun, and Lee In-won, a professor of shipbuilding Pusan National University (PNU).
Deliveries of the newbuildings are expected in late 2021 and early 2022; Namsung expects to deploy the vessels to services in the Far East and South East Asia.
The newbuilding orders were confirmed after Namsung, Magellan Marine Solutions and PNU signed an agreement in February, pledging to collaborate on designing feeder ships with a 12% lower fuel-efficiency than existing vessels.
As with the recently delivered Star Frontier and Star Explorer, Namsung will apply for government subsidies to finance the vessels. Newbuilding subsidies were launched in 2018 as part of a broad national strategy to rejuvenate South Korea’s maritime sector. To qualify for subsidies ship owners are required to demolish or sell older vessels to overseas buyers, which are around 10% of the newbuilding price. Scrapped vessels must be at least 20 years old.
In March, Namsung sold the 2000-built 706TEU Liberty Star to Chinese tonnage provider Qingdao Pengteng International Ship Management for an undisclosed price. Currently, Namsung is said to be negotiating the sale of a similar vessel, Bohai Star.
Namsung operates vessels with an aggregated of capacity of 24,425TEU, comprising 18 owned ships and five chartered vessels.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
