Why do large ships keep building in the cold winter of shipping

The reporter learned from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company that six of the world's largest and latest 21000 TEU container ships started construction and ignited at the Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry Base held by Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Holdings today. These six 'Big Macs' started construction at the same time, setting a record for the Chinese shipbuilding industry to build large-scale container ships in bulk, and also allowing China to catch up in international competition in the field of large-scale container ship construction.

On October 30th this year, Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company and China Shipping (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited officially signed the construction contracts for these six container ships. This batch of container ships was developed and designed by the 708th Research Institute affiliated with China Shipbuilding Corporation. According to the personalized requirements of China Shipping Corporation, specialized technical upgrades and design optimizations were carried out on the main dimensions and cold box count. This ship type is currently the world's largest major scale and largest container carrying capacity ultra large container ship.

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At the end of last year, after the construction of 18000 TEU container ships by Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company, two consecutive steps were taken this year, with the construction of 20000 TEU and 21000 TEU container ships. Why does Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company build large ships and repeatedly challenge world records in the current international shipping and shipbuilding industry, which is generally sluggish? Shipping experts believe that in the context of a sluggish shipping industry, major container shipping companies around the world have instead expanded their market share by ordering large container ships in various forms. This is because large ships can load as many goods as possible at once, reduce transportation times, maximize intensive efficiency, and reduce costs. At the same time, liner companies will also require container ships to slow down while traveling to reduce fuel costs.

It is understood that in the field of ultra large container ships, there is fierce competition between China and Japanese and Korean shipbuilding enterprises. In the past, Japanese and Korean shipping companies had a monopoly in the field of ultra large container ships for many years. After acquiring Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry in 2013, Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company signed three construction contracts for 18000 TEU ultra large container ships with China Shipbuilding Leasing through a combination of industry and finance. They were gradually delivered to the French Dafei Group for operation in the second half of this year, breaking the monopoly of Japanese and Korean shipping companies in this field. However, Japanese and Korean shipping companies have not stopped their efforts in this field. At present, the largest container ship delivered in the world is a 19600 TEU ship built by a Japanese shipbuilding company, and Japanese and Korean companies have also started investing in the construction of 20000 TEU ships. Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company is closely following the trends of its overseas competitors and will achieve a scale reversal through the construction of these six 21000 TEU ships.