Another version of Panamax container ships emerged seven years after the Panama Canal was expanded, according to Alphaliner.
After a string of newbuilding orders for what Alphaliner described as “new compact ships” of 7,000 to 9,000 TEUs, aimed at replacing ageing post-Panamax tonnage, a new class of classic Panamax replacement ships in the 5,000 – 6,000 TEU class has been built.
The first six of these ships have recently been delivered and another 51 units in this size class are currently on order for delivery until 2026.
All the designs, coming from yards in Germany, South Korea, Japan and China, have a wide beam, and hulls ranging from 15 to 17 rows.
Today’s Panamax fleet (3,000 to 4,999 TEUs) is mainly divided into the M-PMX class which was built to take full advantage of the old Panama Canal locks and the shorter B-PMX class. The current fleet counts 170 units of the maxi type and 316 of the baby-variant, with just 29 ships that fall into an in-between category. Especially, the larger M-PMX ships are slowly starting to show their age and the segment has reached an average of 17.6 years.
While the original Panamax ships have been almost phased out from long-haul trades, these vessels are now plying regional lanes.
Alphaliner suggests that there will not be a cookie-cutter approach to replacing the older Panamax ships.
An exception to the 5,000 to 6,000 TEU range is the ship type chosen by Turkish liner operator Turkon Line, which ordered a pair of 4,012 TEU vessels at its affiliate yard Sedef Shipyard, for delivery in 2024.
Alphaliner expects more newbuilding orders down the line to replace ageing ships at the smaller end of the Panamax spectrum, which means compact wide-beam ships of 3,700 to 4,300 TEU. Maersk for example is believed to be looking at twelve such vessels with methanol or ammonia propulsion, while CMA CGM is currently talking to yards over a series of ten LNG-powered 4,000 teu ships.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
