T. S. Lines announced its order of four 1800-TEU vessels from CSBC, Taiwan to enhance the overall fleet of the company. The order is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2017 (two ships are of signed option). The four ships are planned to join the golden JHT service route, connecting Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand. This is the first-ever cooperation between T. S. Lines and CSBC, Taiwan. The chairman of T. S. Lines, T. S. Chen showed his determination to support the domestic industry of Taiwan to create a win-win opportunity for both parties.
T. S. Chen stated that although T. S. Lines received many invitations from shipbuilding companies in China, South Korea, and Japan, but for supporting the Taiwanese industry, CSBC was no doubt the best choice. Moreover, for many years CSBC has been dedicated to doing research on lowering bunker consumption and raising vessel stability. The efforts and contributions CSBC has made are well known and highly reliable.
The chairman of CSBC, Sun-Quae Lai expressed that CSBC, with the momentum of its 1800-TEU model being selected as the front cover of Significant Ships of 2014, would continue to work on improving for the next generation of 1800-TEU vessels. Besides improved energy efficiency, noise reduction, increased loading capacity, and the globally unique design of high-performance, low-cost “sea sword bow”, which meets the high-requirement for cargo stowage and handling. As for the selection of ship types, T. S. Chen pointed out that although many shipbuilding companies currently set the goal of building mega sized vessels, for the Asian near-sea market, T. S. Lines chose to invest in 1800-TEU vessels to enhance the entire fleet.
CSBC emphasized that regional cargo vessels had always been a reputable type. Inheriting the excellent design and building tradition in the past, the 1800-TEU model series especially has already accumulated an experience of building 38 vessels. Upholding the self-invented ideal of seaway optimum design and operation (SODO), the 1800-TEU model series has grown side-by-side with the future trends of environmental protection and energy saving.
According to T. S. Lines, this corridor has not been affected by the vessel cascading effect in the Asian near-sea market which has been going on for a long time. Even though the current Asian market is highly affected by the cascading effect, the average freight for shipping into Bangkok is still significantly higher than that of shipping into Laemchabang. This premium is already enough to solidify the need for this ship model in the market. T. S. Lines believes that in the next 20 years, the demand for the 1800-TEU model will not decrease, because it cannot be replaced by other models.
T. S. Lines currently is the fourth largest shipping carrier in Taiwan, operating 47 shipping lines with 41 vessels. T. S. Lines achieved a 20% to 25% growth in the total achievement rate of 2015, with annual lifting over 1.6 million TEU.