China Shipping Container Lines has unveiled plans to order five 18,000-TEU ships from an unspecified South Korean shipyard in a stock exchange filing, making it the largest order by a Chinese shipowner to date.

A report by SinoShip News said that the containerships will likely be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, where Maersk's EEE ships are under construction. Another likely contender will be Samsung Heavy Industries as CSCL has strong ties with this shipyard.

The container shipping line has yet to sign a firm contract for the order after which point it will disclose "further details".

The company said in stock exchange statement that this order will allow it to maintain its competitiveness and to enhance cooperation with its partners.

A report by Alphaliner said the ships would be deployed on the Far East-Europe trade, on which CSCL is expected to extend its existing cooperation with UASC, with whom it also co-operates on several other trades.

The ship order would also meet expectations that the two ocean liners will commence a joint Asia-Europe loop operated by ten 18,000-TEU ships.

It added that the purchase price for a vessel of this size ranges from US$145 and $150 million with prices for ultra large containerships currently valued at about $8,000-8,500 per TEU. (Source: Shipping Gazette)