Taiwan's Wan Hai Lines has approved a deal worth nearly US$500 million for six 6,000-TEU dual-fuel LNG-powered containerships, reports London's S&P Global.

The ships will be built by China's CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding at prices between $75.2 million and $82 million each, giving the contract a total value of $451.2 million to $492 million, according to a Taiwan stock exchange filing.

The order takes Wan Hai's total book to 36 ships for delivery between 2026 and 2030, boosting its owned fleet to 150 vessels with a combined capacity of 927,250 TEU. Twelve 16,000-TEU ships due in 2027 and 2028 will be the largest in its fleet.

Wan Hai did not specify deployment plans for the new 6,000-TEU ships, though they could join existing 600-series vessels serving Asia and the Indian sub-continent. The deal reinforces LNG as the fuel of choice, with LNG-powered ships on order now totalling almost 4.2 million TEU, double the methanol-fuelled orderbook.

The carrier also approved a $96 million lease with Yokohama-Kawasaki International Port for the Honmoku-futo D-4 Container Terminal in Japan. The 20-year lease will begin when CMA CGM vacates the site in October next year. The D4 facility has a quay length of 1,312 feet, three ship-to-shore cranes and annual handling capacity of 550,000 TEU.

Wan Hai said it will launch a second transpacific service with Ocean Network Express (ONE) in April or May 2026. The Asia-Pacific 2 loop will link Qingdao, Ningbo, Los Angeles and Oakland, offering faster and more reliable transport between Asia and the US West Coast.