STX builds world largest container carrier

South Korea STX will build the largest container carrier in the post-global financial crisis world.
According to the shipbuilding industry on Wednesday, STX plans to finalize within the week negotiations for 10 units of 13,000 TEU container carriers that were ordered by UK-based Zodiac Maritime and visit the country next week to sign the contract.

A 13,000 TEU container carrier is about the size of three or four football stadiums, meaning that it has capacity to carry 13,000 units of 20-foot containers. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) held the largest order record for this year as it received an order from Singapore-based NOL to build 10,700 TEU container carriers. However, the contract between STX and Zodiac easily broke the record.

This is going to the largest container carrier contract for STX. A 13,000 TEU container carrier costs an estimated $120 million. That calculation makes the contract worth $1.2 ~ 1.3 billion. The price of a 13,000 TEU container carrier was as high as $160 million as of 2007, but the current price is $30 ~ 40 million lower than before.

STX largest contract will serve as a starting point for the domestic shipbuilding industry to win additional orders from other countries.