Yang Ming Shipping orders nearly 19,000 new containers

Yang Ming Shipping will order 18,600 containers from Orient International Containers (Hong Kong) and is expected to spend between $95 million and $105 million on new equipment.

The liner operator said it needs more containers as it continues to receive newbuildings, and old containers will have to be scrapped.

Yang Ming is said to be inviting shipbuilders to bid for five 15,000 TEU LNG-powered ships. The company is now the ninth largest liner operator with a total capacity of 686,243 TEU, of which 216,346 TEU are owned vessels.

In July 2022, shipping consultancy Drewry warned of a container glut of 6 million TEUs, as global supply rose 13% year-on-year to 50 million TEUs in 2021.

The strong container shipping market has attracted shipowners to order not only new ships but also containers.