Songa Box, a containership venture backed by Norwegian shipping investor Arne Blystad, has placed a firm order for two 1,300 TEU containerships at Hubei Guangji Green Energy Shipbuilding in China, with options that could expand the series to six vessels and bring the total contract value to approximately $180 million.

Industry sources estimate the price at roughly $30 million per ship. Delivery dates and charter arrangements have not been disclosed.

The newbuildings are based on a design developed by the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute (SDARI) and will be constructed under Korean Register class. The shipyard stated that the design features an optimised hull form, lighter construction, and a more efficient propulsion system, though it did not disclose the fuel specification.

The order marks only the second newbuilding contract announced by Guangji this year. The state-backed yard made its entry into the export market in June, securing three firm 930 TEU feeder vessels plus three options for Dubai-based Emarat Maritime. Both orders underscore how newer Chinese shipyards along the Yangtze corridor are pursuing international clients as established builders' slots fill up amid a multi-year newbuilding boom.

Located at Wuxue on the Yangtze River, Guangji is being developed through an RMB 3.5 billion ($488 million) shipbuilding project designed for annual output of up to 1 million deadweight tonnes. The facility is equipped with 10 building slipways and has set a target capacity of approximately 30 containerships or bulk carriers per year.

Songa Box currently operates a fleet of 10 feeder vessels ranging from 1,740 TEU to 2,872 TEU. Feeder containerships, typically sized below 3,000 TEU, serve regional and secondary trades, connecting smaller ports to major transshipment hubs — a segment where tonnage supply has tightened as owners prioritise larger, fuel-efficient designs. Blystad Group's fleet list also includes six 3,200 TEU newbuildings, reportedly from Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering, scheduled for delivery in 2027 and 2028. With the Guangji orders included, Songa Box now has eight firm newbuildings on order, with options that could extend its pipeline to 12 vessels.

Blystad established Songa Box after divesting Songa Container and its 11-vessel fleet to Oslo-listed MPC Container Ships, a company focused on the feeder and mid-size segment, for $210 million in 2021. The successor company subsequently ordered three ships of approximately 1,800 TEU at Huanghai Shipbuilding, one of which was sold to AD Ports subsidiary Safeen Feeders prior to delivery.

More recently, Songa Box divested its 2007-built, 1,732 TEU Songa Wulf to Swiss liner giant MSC for a reported $19.5 million. MSC has been the most active buyer of secondhand containership tonnage in recent years, rapidly expanding its fleet to become the world's largest container line by capacity.

Source: Splash247