Hapag-Lloyd said it put an order for six ultra-large container vessels of 23,500+ twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs).

"Hapag-Lloyd has commissioned the South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to build six ships, each with a capacity of over 23,500 TEU," the liner said in a statement.

Hapag Lloyd noted that it had already placed an order for six ships of the same size at the end of 2020.

The German international shipping and container transportation company said the newbuilds will operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and will be financed in line with the Green Loan Principles.

"The large container ships will be outfitted with a state-of-the-art high-pressure dual-fuel engine that will be extremely fuel-efficient. Their engine will operate on LNG, but the vessels will also have sufficient tank capacity to operate on conventional fuel as an alternative," it said.

It added that Hapag-Lloyd is also currently focusing on LNG as a medium-term solution, as it reduces CO2 emissions by around 15% to 25% and emissions of sulphur dioxide and particulate matter by more than 90%.

"Fossil LNG is currently the most promising fuel on the path towards zero emissions. The medium-term goal is to have ships that operate in a climate-neutral way using synthetic natural gas (SNG)," it said.

Hapag Lloyd noted that the six additional ships have been financed via a syndicated green loan in the amount of US$852 million that has a maturity of 12 years from the date of delivery. 

Hapag-Lloyd added that the deliveries will begin in 2024.