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Every Vessel Hunter story on Orderbook: 41 stories, from 1 July 2026 to 9 October 2026. Newest: "Precious Shipping orders four 64,500 dwt Ultramax bulkers at Taizhou Sanfu for $141.8m". Each story links to the ships and ports it names, so a name in the text opens the record behind it.

A bulk carrier at sea, seen from above
Industry

Precious Shipping orders four 64,500 dwt Ultramax bulkers at Taizhou Sanfu for $141.8m

Precious Shipping has ordered four 64,500 dwt Ultramax bulk carriers from Taizhou Sanfu Shipbuilding for about $141.8m, with deliveries between April 2030 and January 2031.

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Aerial view of a chemical tanker at sea
Industry

Uni-Tankers takes eight 7,600 dwt stainless steel chemical tankers from Haidong

Danish operator Uni-Tankers has signed for eight 7,600 dwt stainless steel chemical tankers to be built at China's state-owned Haidong Shipyard and taken on time charter from 2028.

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A shipyard dry dock with a large ship under construction
Industry

Erasmus Shipinvest orders two more 1,900 TEU feeders at Huangpu Wenchong

Erasmus Shipinvest has ordered another pair of 1,900 TEU containerships at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong, taking its firm programme at the Guangzhou yard to eight ships plus six options.

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A container ship carrying export cargo at sea
Industry

Contships signs for up to 30 feeder containerships at Hubei Guangji

Greek feeder owner Contships Logistics has signed a letter of intent with Hubei Guangji for ten firm 1,300 TEU containerships and options for twenty more.

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A car carrier passing through a lock at Bremerhaven
Industry

Global Car Carriers adds eight PCTCs in China, taking its orderbook to 20

MSC-owned Global Car Carriers has ordered eight more 8,600 ceu LNG dual-fuel car carriers at three Chinese yards, lifting its newbuilding programme to 20 ships worth over $2bn.

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A container ship moored alongside under a clear sky
Industry

Navios linked to four 10,100 teu boxships at HJ Shipbuilding worth $500m

HJ Shipbuilding & Construction has signed four 10,100 teu containerships worth KRW679bn for an undisclosed Oceania-based owner, which shipbrokers identify as Navios Maritime Partners.

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A container terminal at sunset
Industry

Maritime Briefing of 25 September 2026

The MSC Hermes III is adrift and unmanned off Vietnam, Aramco restarts part of its East-West Pipeline, and five container lines have more ships on order than in service.

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Ship-to-shore cranes over a container terminal
Industry

Five container lines now have more capacity on order than in service

Five operators in the Alphaliner top 100 have orderbooks larger than their fleets, led by Hai An Transport at 368% and Regional Container Lines at 157%, as the global ratio hits 45%.

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A ship under construction in a building dock
Industry

Yangzijiang Maritime orders 24 ships with options on 16 more

Yangzijiang Maritime Development has ordered 24 newbuildings at several Chinese yards and taken options on 16 more, lifting its portfolio to 98 vessels including options.

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A roll-on roll-off vessel under way, seen from the air
Industry

CLdN orders two 6,700 lane-metre RoRo ships at HD Hyundai

CLdN has ordered two 6,700 lane-metre RoRo vessels from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for delivery in mid-2029, the 15th and 16th ships it has contracted at the yard in ten years.

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A large hull under construction in a shipyard dry dock
Industry

Chinese yards take 82% of new orders as crude routes lengthen

Chinese shipbuilders booked 121.06m dwt of new orders in the first half of 2026, 82.3% of the world total, as owners ordered large tankers for the longer crude voyages the Hormuz closure created.

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Aerial view of a product tanker under way at sea
Industry

Transpetrol enters the LR1 segment with two Yangzijiang newbuildings

Transpetrol has ordered two 75,000 dwt LR1 product tankers at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding for delivery in the first and second quarters of 2030, adding a new size class to its fleet.

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A large ship under construction in a covered shipyard dock
Industry

MSC Explores Buying Germany's Controlling Stake in Shipbuilder Meyer Werft

MSC Group is in preliminary talks to acquire the roughly 80 percent of Meyer Werft held by the German federal government and Lower Saxony, covering the Papenburg and Rostock yards.

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Aerial view of a crude oil tanker alongside a loading terminal
Industry

Trafigura Carves Out 14-Ship VLCC Arm With $500m Placement and Oslo Listing

Trafigura is opening its VLCC fleet to outside investors through Volare Shipping, a Singapore-incorporated company raising about $500m ahead of a planned Euronext Growth Oslo listing on or about 5 October.

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A laden crude tanker under way at sea
Industry

VLCC Freight Adds $26 a Barrel and Starts to Shrink US Gulf-Asia Crude

The Middle East Gulf-China VLCC benchmark reached $1.2125m a day on 17 September, ten times its pre-conflict level, and freight now adds roughly $26 to every barrel moved from the US Gulf to Asia.

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A large container ship seen from directly above at a terminal
Industry

Maersk Confirms 26 Ships, Well Short of the 40 the Market Expected

Maersk has confirmed an order for 26 dual-fuel ships of 18,600 teu for 2029 and 2030, smaller than the 40-plus programme analysts had described, and still without a single megamax.

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A large hull under construction in a shipyard dry dock
Industry

Japan Certifies $635M More in Shipbuilding Investment Plans

Japan has certified a further $635m of investment by five shipbuilders, bringing approvals to $1.4bn across eight plans in a programme aimed at doubling output by 2035.

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A large hull under construction in a shipyard dry dock
Industry

Dynacom Returns to Hengli With Eight More Ships Worth Close to $1bn

George Procopiou's Dynacom has ordered eight more vessels at Hengli Heavy Industries in a package worth close to $1bn, taking its VLCC count at the yard to twenty.

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Container ship moored at a harbour berth under a clear sky
Vessel sales

MSC Buys Three More Secondhand Boxships After 500-Ship Run

MSC has been linked to three further secondhand containerships, weeks after passing roughly 500 such purchases since August 2020 and with 2.94m TEU still on order.

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Aerial view of ships and wind turbines at a harbour
Industry

Dajin books 24 newbuildings and builds a heavy transport fleet of its own

Dajin Heavy Industry reports 24 newbuildings worth about RMB 12 billion for delivery to 2030, alongside its own KING and EMPEROR series heavy transport ships.

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A large ship under construction in a shipyard dry dock
Industry

SAL Signs MoU With Wuhu Shipyard to Double Its Orca Fleet to Ten

SAL Heavy Lift has signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Wuhu Shipyard for five more 14,600 dwt Orca-class heavy-lift vessels, which would double the programme to ten ships.

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Aerial view of a bulk carrier loading cargo
Industry

Fujian Highton Seeks $295m Placement to Fund a 16-Ship Buying Programme

Fujian Highton Development is raising up to RMB2bn to fund 16 bulkers and multipurpose heavylift ships over three years, with the whole placement earmarked for vessel purchases.

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Large ship under construction in a dry dock, illustrating shipyard output
Industry

CSSC Net Profit Rises 163% as Its Order Backlog Reaches 729 Ships

China State Shipbuilding Corporation recorded first-half revenue of RMB91.53bn and net profit of RMB9.95bn, on higher deliveries of high-end vessels and rising average prices.

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Container ship seen from above in a port, illustrating container fleet growth
Industry

The Container Fleet Is About to Pass 34m TEU After Adding 10m in Five Years

Global containership capacity stood 8,000 TEU short of 34m at the start of September, having taken five and a half years to add the 10m TEU that previously took more than a decade.

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LNG carrier design rendering with membrane containment tanks
Industry

China Took 57.8% of Global LNG Carrier Orders in the First Half of 2026

Chinese builders captured 57.8% of the 90 LNG carrier orders placed worldwide in the first half of 2026, widening a gap that stood at 15 ships to 13 in the same period last year.

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Large vessel under construction in a shipyard dry dock
Industry

South Korea's Big Three Yards Are Running Above Their Rated Capacity

HD KSOE, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean all ran at or above their nominal capacity in the first half of 2026, and are investing in docks, cranes and automation rather than new land.

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Aerial view of a laden container ship at sea
Industry

ZIM Returns to Quarterly Profit With $64m as the First Half Still Shows a Loss

ZIM posted net income of $64m for the second quarter on revenue of $1.78bn, but the carrier still recorded a $22m net loss across the first half as average freight rates fell to $1,455 per teu.

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Aerial view of a large container ship under way
Industry

Maersk Forecast to Slide to Fourth in the Liner Rankings by 2028

COSCO's orderbook has reached 52% of its existing fleet, the highest ratio in the top ten, while Maersk tries to accelerate into a record 14.84m teu global orderbook.

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Container ship alongside gantry cranes seen from a distance across the harbour
Industry

Port Congestion Absorbs 2.3m TEU as Container Fleet Faces a Suez Reset

Delays have rendered 6.6% of the containership fleet effectively unavailable, masking a tonnage release that a full return to Suez would turn into an 8.7% contraction in head-haul demand.

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Container ship assisted into a berth by tugs
Industry

Maersk Approaches Its Fleet Limits as Utilisation Hits 96%

Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc says demand resilience has pushed vessel utilisation to 96% and second-quarter ocean volumes up 4.1%, forcing a reassessment of fleet expansion.

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Shipyard workers on a vessel under construction
Industry

Hengli Books 207 Ships in Six Months, a Record for a Single Yard

Hengli Heavy Industries took 207 vessel orders in the first half of 2026, an all-time record for a single shipyard, lifting its backlog to about 380 ships through 2030.

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A cruise ship hull under construction in a covered dock
Industry

Ultra-Luxury Newbuilds Now Take a Fifth of the Cruise Orderbook

Ultra-luxury tonnage accounts for 20 percent of cruise ships on order by number, drawing investment from Royal Caribbean Group, MSC and luxury hotel brands.

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A large hull under construction in a building dock
Industry

Fincantieri Books Two More Viking Ocean Ships for 2032 Delivery

Fincantieri has converted options into firm contracts for two 54,300 gross ton Viking ocean ships, to be built at Ancona for delivery in 2032.

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A cruise liner passing under a bridge
Industry

Viking Holds $4 Billion in Cash and Sets a Four-Part Test for Acquisitions

Viking closed the second quarter with $4 billion in cash and an undrawn $1 billion revolver, and says any acquisition must beat the returns its own newbuildings generate.

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Shipowner's Orderbook Reaches Sixty-Nine Vessels, Nine Tenths In China
Industry

Shipowner's Orderbook Reaches Sixty-Nine Vessels, Nine Tenths In China

A diversified British shipowner has expanded its newbuilding programme to 69 vessels under construction, with roughly ninety per cent of that tonnage contracted at Chinese shipyards.

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Container ship alongside a terminal berth seen from the air
Industry

Three Largest Container Lines In Talks With Chinese Yards Over 2029 Slots

The three largest container lines are in advanced talks with Chinese yards over mega-orders, with delivery slots stretching towards 2029.

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Aerial view of a shipyard with vessels in dock
Industry

Chinese yards take more than four-fifths of world newbuilding orders

China's shipbuilding industry strengthened its dominance in the first half of 2026, securing more than 80% of worldwide new orders and recording growth across output, orders and backlog simultaneously.

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Tanker alongside a jetty at sunset
Industry

Product tanker deliveries set for a sixteen-year high

New deliveries of product tankers are forecast to reach 12m dwt in 2025, an increase of 256% from 3.4m dwt in 2024.

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LNG carrier alongside an import terminal
Industry

GTT expects 550 more LNG carriers to be ordered by 2035

GTT expects around 550 LNG carriers to be ordered by 2035, on top of an orderbook already equal to almost two fifths of the trading fleet.

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Bow of a large crude oil tanker
Industry

Crude tanker orders hit record high

Crude tanker contracting has reached its highest level on record this year, driven by a surge of orders for very large crude carriers.

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Officer shortage risks exceeding 100,000 by 2030
Industry

Container shipping is thinking small again

The containership orderbook is nearing 13m teu, but Alphaliner data shows carriers shifting decisively toward smaller feeder and mid-sized ships, with 74% of recent orders below 6,500 teu.

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Orderbook: maritime news and analysis, 41 stories | Vessel Hunter