According to reports, CMA vessels recently signed new ship orders with two Chinese shipyards and built nine 22,000-tessel-class container ships at a cost of US$1.44 billion. The nine vessels will become the largest container ships in the world.

The nine ships are expected to use dual-fuel engines, including LNG and conventional fuels.

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), will be responsible for the construction of five of them, and the remaining four will be under the responsibility of another subsidiary, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

Earlier, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Iridium Heavy Industry, and Daewoo Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. also took part in the competition for DAF, but lost all.

An official representative of South Korea’s shipbuilding industry said: “The South Korean shipyard had previously received a large number of order transactions in the global market, but now they are embarrassed not only for the low-end ship market, but also for the ultra-large ship market and high value-added vessels. Orders were taken away by China."