Wanhai Shipping (Singapore) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Wanhai Shipping, announced that it plans to purchase four 6,000TEU LNG dual-fuel reserved container ships from Huangpu Wenchong and two 9,200TEU methanol dual-fuel reserved container ships from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding.

According to Clarkson’s latest statistics (as of February 9, 2026), 193 new orders were signed globally in January 2026, totaling 6,382,801CGT. Compared with the global new orders of 316 ships in December 2025, totaling 8,996,938 CGT, the number decreased by 123 ships month-on-month, and the revised gross tonnage decreased by 29.06% month-on-month. Compared with the 400 new orders signed globally in January 2025, totaling 4,752,170 CGT, the number decreased by 207 units year-on-year. However, thanks to the surge in orders for liquefied gas ships, the revised gross tonnage increased by 34.31% year-on-year.

After experiencing a phased adjustment in which the global large-scale LNG ship newbuilding market has cooled significantly in 2025 and orders are highly concentrated on Korean shipbuilding companies, Chinese shipbuilding companies will usher in a key breakthrough in 2026. Jiangnan Shipbuilding successfully secured its first large-scale LNG ship order this year, marking that China's shipbuilding industry has achieved a "good start" in the field of high-end LNG ships and its competitiveness continues to rise.

At the beginning of the new year, China's shipbuilding industry is welcoming another blockbuster order. State-owned shipping giant COSCO Shipping Group continues to promote fleet expansion and structural upgrading, ordering a total of 18 container ships of two types at two domestic shipyards, steadily increasing its shipping capacity.

Shipbuilding giant receives record orders for container ships

Singapore shipping giant Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) continues to increase container ship orders and place orders for 14 new ships in two Chinese shipyards.

According to trade winds, Dafei plans to order up to 12 container ships of 21,000 TEU to 24,000 TEU class, and has issued inquiries to many Asian shipyards, including China Shipbuilding Group's shipyards, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and Hengli Heavy Industry, as well as the three Korean shipbuilding giants HD South Korea Shipbuilding Ocean, Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industry. This will be the first time that Dafei has ordered a super-large container ship of more than 20,000 boxes in two years.

COSCO Shipping pointed out that this cooperation is an important measure for COSCO Shipping to continuously promote the optimization of the company's fleet structure, build a fleet of major powers, and support "national shipbuilding" based on Fujian Shipping's technical, cost and service advantages in the field of ship manufacturing, and CITIC Jinluo's strong innovation capabilities in the financial field. It is conducive to accelerating the supplementary high-quality grain transportation capacity, enhancing the global competitiveness of the company's fleet, and improving the national important material transportation capacity.

The global new shipbuilding market has cooled significantly this year. Continuing its strong performance in April, Chinese shipping companies ranked first in May, while French shipping companies rarely jumped to second place with large orders for luxury cruise ships, breaking the pattern of long-term monopoly of the top two global new shipbuilding market in China and South Korea.

Recently, Fincantieri released its first quarter 2025 financial report. In the first quarter, Fincantieri's total revenue reached 2.376 billion euros (approximately RMB 19.22 billion), a significant increase of 35% from 1.76 billion euros in the same period of 2024. All business sectors performed well, especially the revenue of the shipbuilding business increased by 39.5% year-on-year, accounting for 72% of the group's total revenue.