KMTC Orders Six 3,100 TEU Container Ships from China's Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard

South Korean shipping line Korea Marine Transport Co (KMTC) entered the Chinese shipbuilding market for the first time by ordering six 3,100 TEU container ships from the CSSC Huangpu Wenchong shipyard. The contract was signed in Guangzhou on October 26, 2026, with the involvement of China Shipbuilding Trading Co. (CSTC), and the six vessels will have a combined capacity of 18,600 TEU.

The vessels will be based on Huangpu Wenchong's proprietary 3,100 TEU design known as “Honghu” (or Swan), originally developed by the shipyard and already used in orders from other international clients. For this deal, the design will be modified to meet KMTC's operational requirements, with improvements aimed at fuel efficiency and operational flexibility. Neither the shipyard nor the carrier disclosed the contract value, delivery schedule or propulsion specifications.

The deal represents KMTC's first newbuilding project in China and its first contract with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), after the carrier had traditionally relied on South Korean shipyards, maintaining a particularly close relationship with HD Hyundai. Earlier this year, KMTC was linked to an order for up to six 1,800 TEU container ships at HD Hyundai yards, valued at 372.4 billion South Korean won (US$258 million), with deliveries scheduled between August 2027 and June 2028. Last year, the carrier had also contracted four 13,000 TEU vessels with HD Hyundai, in a deal estimated at around US$600 million, as part of its return to the transpacific trade after a four-decade absence and the expansion of its Asia-Mexico services.

With this contract, KMTC joins Huangpu Wenchong's base of South Korean clients, which already includes Sinokor, HMM, CK Line, Namsung Shipping and its subsidiary Dongyoung Shipping, with projects ranging from small feeder vessels to mid-sized container ships and heavy-lift multipurpose vessels. According to Xinde Marine News, adding together the Namsung and Dongyoung programs, the CK Line order and the KMTC order, the shipyard accumulated twelve firm container ship orders from South Korean clients in 2026, plus two additional options.

The KMTC deal adds to other recent contracts in the same 3,100 TEU Honghu series at Huangpu Wenchong. In September, Thailand's Regional Container Lines ordered four vessels in this series, bringing its orderbook at the shipyard to 16 vessels across three different sizes, while in early October Vietnam's Hai An Transport placed its first order for two Honghu-series vessels with the same shipyard.