ASL Shipping orders pair of 5,300 teu boxships at Huangpu Wenchong
Key Takeaways
- •ASL Shipping has ordered two firm 5,300 TEU containerships from CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, with options that could extend the series to four vessels.
- •The newbuilds will follow Huangpu Wenchong's series design at 235 m in length, 37.5 m in breadth and around 71,500 dwt, while contract prices and delivery dates remain undisclosed.
- •Asean Seas Line currently lists 14 feeder containerships ranging from 1,096 to 1,930 TEU serving trades linking China with Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka, making the newbuilds nearly three times the capacity of its largest listed ship.
- •Benchmark pricing of about $60m per ship for the 5,300 TEU design implies a combined spend near $120m for the two firm units, based on TS Lines' $61.28m-per-ship contract for four similar vessels signed last year.
- •Huangpu Wenchong has been expanding in the midsize boxship segment, signing 13 ships above 5,000 TEU in June and a 2+2 order for 6,400 TEU vessels from South Korea's CK Line earlier this month.
Hong Kong-based ASL Shipping has placed an order for two firm 5,300 teu containerships at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, with options for two additional units — a sizeable step up in vessel scale for a group whose existing interests sit firmly in the feeder segment.
The newbuilds will follow Huangpu Wenchong's own series design, measuring 235 m in length and 37.5 m in breadth, with a deadweight of around 71,500 dwt. Neither pricing nor delivery dates have been disclosed.
The order takes ASL's interests well beyond the feeder tonnage on which regional carrier Asean Seas Line has built its fleet. The carrier's website currently lists 14 containerships ranging from 1,096 teu to 1,930 teu, deployed across trades linking China with Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka, which would make the newbuilds close to three times the capacity of the largest ship in the listed fleet.
ASL is no stranger to the Guangzhou yard. Huangpu Wenchong previously constructed a pair of 1,900 teu vessels for Asean Seas Line, with the first, ASL Bauhinia, delivered in 2022 and sistership ASL Peony following in early 2023.
The relationship later expanded through CA Shipping, a joint venture between CSSC Shipping — the ship-leasing arm of China State Shipbuilding Corporation — and ASL-linked ASL Navigation. During 2024, Huangpu Wenchong delivered four 1,600 teu vessels to the venture, with the ships deployed across Asean Seas Line's regional network.
A recent price marker for the Wenchong 5,300 teu design places the ships at around $60m apiece, implying a combined outlay in the region of $120m for the two firm units at benchmark pricing. Taiwan's TS Lines contracted four 5,300 teu units at Huangpu Wenchong last year for $61.28m each, although there is no indication yet of what ASL is paying for its ships.
Huangpu Wenchong has been rapidly building its presence in the midsize boxship segment, where the 5,300–6,400 teu classes have drawn a run of orders from regional carriers across Asia. In June, the CSSC yard signed 13 ships above 5,000 teu in a single batch, including three 5,300 teu vessels, and followed earlier this month with a 2+2 order for 6,400 teu ships from South Korea's CK Line — the same structure ASL has now adopted. Should ASL exercise its options, the series would run to four ships.
Source: Splash247
