Pacific International Lines (PIL) announced that it awarded the contract to Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) for the construction of four 14,000 TEU container vessels.

The vessels will be equipped with dual-fuel engines and auxiliaries which can run on both Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or low sulphur fuel oil.

It said the four vessels will be delivered progressively from 2H 2024 through to 1H 2025 although the price of the newbuildings were not revealed.

When delivered, the vessels will become the largest container vessels in PIL's fleet and the first vessels in the fleet to run on LNG, PIL added.

"This contract to build the four 14,000 TEU LNG dual-fuelled vessels marks our plan to continue optimising our fleet to serve our customers in our key markets. At the same time, it is aligned to our total commitment to reducing PIL’s carbon emissions by tapping on the latest technologies available. The LNG option represents an important step in PIL's decarbonisation journey, and as BioLNG and e-Methane as well as other technology solutions mature, we aspire to continue to be at the forefront of these developments to achieve the zero emission target," Lars Kastrup, co-president and executive director, PIL, said.

To further demonstrate PIL's commitment to meet the industry's environmental goals, the Singapore-based PIL said the four vessels will be equipped with ammonia intermediate ready fuel tank which makes it possible to retrofit the vessels to run on ammonia when the technology is commercially available.