Siem Confucius and Siem Aristotle fixed to Chinese automaker as car carrier orders climb

Seven Yield, a Siem Group company, has fixed the LNG dual-fuel car carriers Siem Confucius and Siem Aristotle to an unnamed major Chinese automaker on five-year charters worth about $180m in total. The 7,500 CEU sisters will start the new charters in 2027 and 2028 respectively, directly after their current employment with Volkswagen ends. Neither the charterer nor the ships' future trades have been disclosed.

The pair were built by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry in 2020 to a design by the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute and were among the first deep-sea pure car and truck carriers with LNG dual-fuel propulsion. They entered Siem Car Carriers' transatlantic network for Volkswagen, linking Emden with markets including the United States and Mexico, financed through a Japanese operating lease with call option backed by Volkswagen contracts of at least seven years. On 3 September Seven Yield exercised the early purchase option for Siem Confucius with a syndicated facility from DNB, SEB, Danske Bank and Crédit Agricole CIB; the purchase of Siem Aristotle is due in the first quarter of 2027.

Who else is ordering car carriers?

Wallenius Wilhelmsen announced on 28 October that it will build four more 9,900 CEU LNG dual-fuel PCTCs at Jinling Shipyard in Jiangsu, for delivery from mid-2030, with options for four in 2031 and four in 2032. If all options are declared the deal involves about $1.5bn of capital expenditure and takes its Shaper programme from 18 firm ships to 26. The first Shaper ship, Arctic Tern, was delivered in July for Asia–Europe service with EUKOR. The company raised about $300m in a private placement on 6 October and has also signed two three-year contracts with an unnamed equipment manufacturer worth more than $1bn, about $950m for shipping and nearly $100m for logistics.

MSC's Global Car Carriers, the former Gram Car Carriers, has 22 newbuildings at Chinese yards, eighteen of 8,600 CEU and four of 7,000 CEU, for delivery between 2028 and 2030; the latest two are at Zhoushan Changhong International. Höegh Autoliners signed with China Merchants in September for six more 9,100 CEU Aurora-class ships, taking that programme to 18 firm. Guangzhou Shipyard International contracted ten 8,200 CEU LNG dual-fuel ships worth more than $1bn on 1 September, SFL has four 7,000 CEU ships due in 2029 for about $363m, and Sallaum Lines has added three firm 8,600 CEU ships.

Automakers are also securing their own capacity. BYD says it has bought ten more ships, SAIC Anji has tendered for two 11,000 CEU LNG dual-fuel PCTCs, and seven Japanese companies including NYK and K Line plan four ammonia-fuelled car carriers for 2030. For shortsea trades, UECC has ordered two 3,000 CEU battery-hybrid ships at China Merchants Jinling in Nanjing and K Line four 1,380-vehicle LNG dual-fuel carriers for its European subsidiary KESS.

This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 3 November 2026.