Capital goes ahead with two more LNG dual-fuel boxships in South Korea
- Additions increase series of 8,800 teu boxships to six, priced at about $140m each
- Marinakis-led group also has 14 feeder vessels on order with HD Hyundai Group
- Value of spree now rises to $1.5bn
Exercising two options takes Greek owner’s recent boxship spree to 20 ships
EVANGELOS Marinakis’ Capital Group has added to a slew of containership orders inked last month with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering.
The Greece-based owner has exercised options for two more 8,800 teu liquified natural gas dual-fuel vessels priced at about $140m each, according to sources with knowledge of the contracts.
HD KSOE announced on Friday it had signed a contract for two boxships at a price that tallies with this.
The two vessels will be built by HD Hyundai Samho and are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2028, said the South Korean group.
It identified the owner only as “a shipping company based in Oceania”.
In April, Capital placed orders for 18 containerships to be built at HD Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan and the Samho yard in Yeongam.
The latest move brings the value of the boxship spree to about $1.5bn.
The 20 orders now comprise six 8,800 teu dual-fuel vessels, eight 2,800 teu vessels, priced at about $54m apiece, and six 1,800 teu feeders contracted at about $44m each.
Over the past 18 months, the Marinakis-led group has sold several containerships from the fleet of its Nasdaq-listed affiliate Capital Clean Energy Carriers but the group still operates 22 container vessels on the water, mostly feeders.
Including the additional Capital pair, HD KSOE has so far this year clinched new orders for 57 ships worth $7bn, or about 39% of its $18bn order target for this year.
Other new orders have been for one LNG carrier, six LNG bunkering vessels, six LPG/ammonia carriers, two ethane carriers, 36 containerships and 6 tankers, the builder said.
