COSCO Lifts 2026 Containership Spending to $8bn With Latest $3bn Order Package
Key Takeaways
- •COSCO Shipping Holdings ordered 18 more container ships worth RMB20.27bn ($2.99bn), bringing its 2026 orderbook to 48 vessels valued at about $8bn.
- •The latest package comprises 12 LNG dual-fuel megamax ships of roughly 22,000 teu at Shanghai Waigaoqiao and six 3,200 teu feeder ships at Huangpu Wenchong, both CSSC yards.
- •Of the 48 ships ordered this year, 36 vessels with nearly 640,000 teu of capacity are LNG dual-fuel designs.
- •The orders mark COSCO's deepening pivot to LNG propulsion after previously focusing on methanol and conventional fuels, aligning with tightening international greenhouse-gas rules.
COSCO Shipping Holdings has contracted for another 18 containerships worth RMB20.27bn ($2.99bn), bringing its newbuilding commitments in the segment this year to 48 vessels and approximately $8bn.
The latest package is divided between 12 LNG dual-fuel megamax vessels at CSSC's Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and six wide-beam feeder ships at fellow CSSC yard Huangpu Wenchong. The choice of Chinese state-owned yards continues a pattern in which COSCO channels the bulk of its newbuilding work to domestic shipbuilders within the CSSC group.
COSCO describes the larger ships as 22,000 teu units, while Waigaoqiao puts their nominal capacity at 21,700 teu. Priced at $224m each, the 12-ship programme carries a value of $2.688bn.
The six 3,200 teu ships will cost RMB339.8m ($50m) apiece, or RMB2.039bn ($300m) in total. They are based on a wide-beam design intended for regional and feeder trades. Together, the two contracts add 283,200 teu of nominal capacity.
The orders cap a remarkable year of contracting for China's largest liner group. As Splash reported in January, COSCO opened 2026 with 12 LNG dual-fuel 18,000 teu ships at Jiangnan Shipyard plus six 3,000 teu conventional-fuel units at COSCO Zhoushan, in a package worth roughly $2.7bn.
The group followed in April with another 12 LNG dual-fuel ships of 13,600 teu, worth $2.22bn, ordered through Orient Overseas International.
The three rounds bring COSCO Shipping Holdings' 2026 order tally to 48 containerships representing around 676,800 teu and RMB54.27bn ($8bn) of investment. Of these, 36 ships with almost 640,000 teu of capacity are LNG dual-fuel vessels.
The latest spending also pushes COSCO considerably deeper into LNG. As Splash noted at the start of the year, the Jiangnan series marked the group's first move into LNG-fuelled containership newbuildings, after previously concentrating on methanol and conventional propulsion. The pivot matters beyond COSCO's own fleet: LNG dual-fuel has become one of the most commonly chosen alternative-fuel options for large containership newbuildings across the liner industry, as carriers prepare to meet tightening international greenhouse-gas regulations for shipping.
For readers tracking the sector, the key figures to watch going forward are whether COSCO adds further newbuilding rounds in 2026 and how the group's fuel strategy evolves across its LNG and methanol fleets as delivery dates approach.
Source: Splash247
