Nixon noted that the shipping line has started looking at new ships "since 2020 and 2021." This would include 38 chartered vessels with 7,000-24,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) capacity for delivery between 2020 and 2024.

"... that process has already started those assets will start to come online quite soon and help to improve our overall efficiency and slot cost and also improve our carbon intensity, as well reducing making us greener in terms of our footprint," Nixon said.

"It would not be surprising if we were looking at potentially more orders in the future and maybe not just charters, but potentially actually direct purchases."

"We really want to take back control and have more long-term core tonnage ourselves and long-term charters or owned," he added.

ONE earlier endorsed calls to decarbonize international shipping by 2050 aligning the industry with the Paris Agreement temperature goal.