CSSC Chengxi and Peter Döhle Sign Contract for Four 3,700 TEU Container Ships

Shipyard CSSC Chengxi Shipyard signed a contract on October 23 with China Shipbuilding Trading Co. (CSTC) for the construction of four 3,700 TEU container ships, in an agreement entered into with a European shipowner not publicly identified. Shipbroking and market sources linked the buyer to German shipping line Peter Döhle, although neither the shipyard nor the shipowner officially confirmed that relationship. Neither the contract price nor the delivery schedule was disclosed.

The new contract is the second feeder container ship agreement Chengxi has announced this year. On March 31, the shipyard and CSTC had signed for two 3,100 TEU vessels with a European shipowner also linked by the market to Peter Döhle, later named Annabella and Anastasia, with delivery estimated for 2028. According to Alphaliner, those two vessels are built to the SDARI Sealion design, and the shipowner would also hold options for two additional units of the same type, although it is unclear whether those options are related to the new order for four larger ships.

If the buyer's identity is confirmed, Peter Döhle's commitments at Chengxi would total six container ships across the two size classes. Alphaliner specified that the new 3,700 TEU vessels will be built under the MARIC Hercules 3700 design, with conventional propulsion, and that Chengxi would still have berth availability in 2028 for at least the first ships in the series. Splash 247 added that this same design had already been ordered by MPC Container Ships, which commissioned six similar vessels at Taizhou Sanfu Shipyard for about 48 million dollars each, with deliveries between 2028 and 2029 and long-term employment linked to Hapag-Lloyd.

The order at Chengxi adds to a broader newbuilding program by Peter Döhle at Chinese shipyards. The Hamburg-based line had ordered four methanol-ready 14,000 TEU container ships at Hudong-Zhonghua in June 2024, a series it expanded on September 1, 2026, during the SMM Hamburg trade fair, to six units with two additional vessels. It has also been linked to four 2,900 TEU feeders at Huangpu Wenchong and, according to sources, a possible connection to up to five dual-fuel LNG-powered 8,400 TEU vessels at Guangzhou Shipyard International.

For Chengxi, the new contract deepens its return to container ship construction after a period focused on other segments. The shipyard completed its last container vessels in the segment in 2021, with the delivery of the high-capacity reefer vessels Dole Maya and Dole Aztec, before returning to feeder vessel orders earlier this year. According to Clarksons data cited by Xinde Marine News, before adding these four vessels, Chengxi's order book included 107 vessels, among them 75 bulk carriers and two container ships, with deliveries scheduled through 2030. The shipyard stated that the new vessels offer competitive cargo capacity, deadweight tonnage and fuel consumption, with energy performance exceeding IMO EEDI index requirements, nitrogen oxide emissions compliant with the Tier III standard, and compliance with sulfur oxide regulations.