Evergreen Marine has signed contracts worth US$1.5 billion for 23 new container vessels, enhancing its fleet and global position.
Evergreen Marine has approved contracts worth nearly US$1.5 billion with two Chinese shipyards for the construction of 23 new container vessels, reported UK's Ships Monthly.
The larger agreement, valued between US$736 million and US$896 million, was signed with CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding for 16 ships of 3,100 TEU capacity.
A second contract with Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding covers seven vessels of 5,900 TEU, valued between US$469 million and US$574 million. The carrier has not disclosed fuel specifications, delivery schedules, or deployment plans.
Shipbrokers expect deliveries to begin in 2028 and continue into 2029. Evergreen has previously announced plans to deploy 3,000 TEU vessels on Caribbean services by 2030, suggesting possible alignment with these orders.
The deals follow nearly US$3 billion in contracts placed in November for 14 LNG-powered container ships of 14,000 TEU. Evergreen's order backlog has now risen to 926,000 TEU, lifting its combined fleet and order book to almost 2.85 million TEU.
This positions Evergreen as the world's fifth-largest container line, behind Cosco Shipping Holdings and affiliate OOCL, which together hold 4.2 million TEU in service and on order, according to Sea-web data.
The new contracts also add to growth in the global container ship order book, which now totals 1,275 vessels of 11.5 million TEU. Clarksons said this represents more than 34 percent of the existing fleet, scheduled for delivery between 2026 and 2030.
