MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Company (MSC) is reportedly up for another round of newbuilding orders as mainline operators rush to beef up their fleets with "green" vessels, reports Container News.

MSC has reportedly asked several South Korean and Chinese shipyards for price quotes for 8,000 TEU ships to be dual-fuelled with methanol or LNG. The number of vessels the Swiss-Italian carrier is ordering has yet to be confirmed.

The world's largest liner operator MSC already has 20 units of 8,000 TEU LNG dual-fuelled ships under construction, comprising six from Hyundai Heavy Industries (LNG, owned), four (on long-term charter from Danaos Corporation) from DH Shipbuilding (formerly Daehan Shipbuilding) and ten from New Times Shipbuilding.

These 20 boxships are expected for delivery in 2024 and 2025. Vessels in the 8,000 TEU size range are appropriate for the Far East-Persian Gulf lane.

In all, MSC has 122 vessels of 1.56 million TEU on order, amounting to approximately 31 per cent of its existing fleet of over 5 million TEU.

As the shipping industry prepares to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, liner operators have been ordering newbuildings propelled by alternative fuels, even though freight rates have been under pressure.