German shipowner Hartmann Group recently returned to Taizhou Sanfu Shipbuilding to place additional new vessel orders.
According to TradeWinds, Hartmann has ordered its seventh 3,500 TEU dual-fuel LNG-powered container ship at Sanfu Shipbuilding, with the new vessel priced at approximately $75 million (around RMB 538 million). Similar to the previous six ships, this vessel will be managed by Hartmann, with U.S. shipping company Seaboard Marine as the partner.
For reference, Clarksons’ data shows that the current newbuilding price for a 4,500 TEU container ship is about $60.5 million, down approximately 1% from $61 million during the same period last year.
Including the latest order, Hartmann and Seaboard Marine have now ordered seven 3,500 TEU dual-fuel container ships at Sanfu Shipbuilding, with the first four delivered last year and this year. Notably, the first six ships in the series were ordered in 2021 at a price of around $60 million per vessel, while the newly ordered seventh ship has seen a 25% price increase to $75 million.
This series of 3,500 TEU dual-fuel container ships was designed by Germany’s HB HUNTE Design, featuring a forecastle-type design. The vessels have an overall length of 248.00 meters, a length between perpendiculars of 236.50 meters, a beam of 35.20 meters, a depth of 19.2 meters, a design draft of 11.00 meters, a maximum deadweight tonnage of 51,000 tons, and a design speed of 19.5 knots.
The primary fuels for these vessels are LNG (natural gas) and MGO (diesel), utilizing vertical LNG storage tanks. The ships can carry over 1,000 refrigerated containers and are equipped with a refrigerated container monitoring system. They feature a shaft generator, two MGO-fueled generators, and one LNG-fueled generator to meet power demands under various operating conditions. The integrated rudder and propeller design, along with an adjustable pitch propeller, rudder bulb, and S-shaped flow-guiding rudder blade, effectively improves propulsion efficiency and maneuverability. The EEDI index meets and exceeds current industry standards, with environmental performance far surpassing peers.
It is understood that Hartmann Group was founded in 1981, and its subsidiaries operate a diversified fleet, including LNG carriers, bulk carriers, cement carriers, and container ships. The company manages a fleet of container ships of varying types and sizes, specializing in vessels with capacities between 1,100 and 2,800 TEU.
Seaboard has been actively modernizing its fleet in recent years. In 2022, the company re-entered the newbuilding market, ordering 2+2 LNG dual-fuel 1,450 TEU feeder container ships at Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering. The first vessel, “Seaboard Sky,” was delivered last month, with its sister ship, “Seaboard Saturn,” scheduled for delivery later this year.
Sanfu Shipbuilding owns two high-tech shipbuilding bases—the Yong’an and Gangkou facilities—both located along the golden waterway of the Yangtze River. The bases are equipped with 10,000-ton-class outfitting quays, seven assembly berths, and hundreds of lifting devices, with a maximum lifting capacity of 900 tons. The shipyard can undertake the construction of various vessels up to 120,000 DWT, including container ships, multi-purpose vessels, oil/chemical tankers, bulk carriers, tugboats, offshore engineering vessels, and barges.
Excluding the latest order, Clarksons’ data shows that Sanfu Shipbuilding currently has an orderbook of 60 vessels totaling 1.8095 million DWT, including 12 container ships, 13 bulk carriers, 32 multi-purpose vessels, and three other ships, with deliveries scheduled through 2028.
