Feeder frenzy: owners rush to smarten up ageing fleet

Chinese yards are predictably dominating order books in a rush by container shipping to replace ageing feeder fleets with more advanced designs, ahead of stricter emissions standards.

With Israeli-owned Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) in the vanguard, maritime analysts identified 90 orders for newbuilds in H1 2025 alone, with more arriving in August and September. That is the fattest order book in nearly three years, according to Maritime Strategies International (MSI).

And it keeps growing. In August, EPS placed orders with China’s Maewei shipyard for 12 feeders with 1,800 TEU capacity, plus options for another six. In a deal valued at around US$680M, the vessels will be delivered through 2027 and 2028 and are expected to end up in CMA CGM charters, a regular EPS customer. This latest order follows an earlier six-vessel US$180M contract by EPS with Jinling shipyard, also due for delivery through 2027 and 2028.

All up, through August alone Chinese shipyards have taken newbuild bookings for nearly 40 container ships, most of them feeders. And as slots run out, prices are rising for newbuilds and pulling second-hand feeders behind them.

According to VesselsValue’s second-quarter report, the price of a 15-year-old, 2,500-TEU short-sea vessel has shot up by nearly 20% since the beginning of 2025, from US$26.4M to US$31.7M.

And because most of the short-sea tonnage is owned by container giants, the result is “a significant positive impact on fleet values”, notes VesselsValue. At current valuations, the average cost of a feeder under 6,000 TEU is about US$45M.

Meantime, CMA CGM and MSC are reportedly negotiating with Chinese and South Korean shipyards over the renewal of their feeder fleets. On top of the 90 already identified, the two container giants are looking for another 120 newbuilds that will introduce much-needed new technology into increasingly dated short-sea designs. The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) estimates that 92% of the world’s container fleet is composed of short-sea vessels that are more than 20 years old.

As fast-growing coastal trade in the Asia-Pacific region boosts the feeder fleet, another sizeable order in the offing comes from Bangladesh Shipping’s venture into coastal trading. The state-owned group is said to be negotiating with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Dae Sun Shipbuilding over a six-ship contract valued at US$330M  – about US$55M per ship. 

“The price of a 15-year-old short-sea vessel has shot up by nearly 20%”

Another busy group, Indonesia’s Meratus, has signed with Guangxi Shipbuilding for more short-sea ships following on from the delivery in 2024 of two 124m-long feeders that are working regional routes.

Singapore’s X-Press Feeders will provide COSCO Shipping with the first option to charter newbuilds for expanded operations across Asia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, North Europe and Latin America. The world’s largest independent common carrier, X-Press, hit the headlines in mid-2023 when it launched scheduled methanol-fuelled routes in Europe with 1,260-TEU ships.

US-based Crowley’s 1,400-TEU Torogoz began its inaugural service from Port Everglades, Florida to Central America in August, following its delivery from HD Hyundai Mipo. Built to DNV class, the vessel, like the other three feeder ships in the Avance class under construction, has LNG dual-fuel propulsion.