Splash247: Navios tied to four boxship newbuilds in South Korea

Published by Splash247

Angeliki Frangou-led Navios Maritime Partners has been linked to another four containership newbuilds at South Korea’s HJ Shipbuilding & Construction (HJSC), in a deal worth around $500m.

HJSC disclosed this week that it had signed up an unidentified Oceania-based owner for four containerships, with the contract worth KRW679bn ($500m) running from September 21, 2026 through April 30, 2029.

The shipbuilder did not disclose the vessels’ capacity or propulsion specification. Shipbuilding and market sources have, however, identified Navios as the buyer, with the contract pricing pointing to ships of around 10,100 teu.

That would take Frangou’s business at HJSC into a larger size class. Navios has been a repeat customer at the Busan yard, initially building up a series of 7,900 teu methanol-ready, scrubber-fitted ships before adding four 8,850 teu newbuilds linked to the same builder.

The first 7,900 teu unit, Navios Cyan, was delivered earlier this year. Navios’s latest official fleet update lists another three ships of that size and four 8,850 teu vessels still to come through the first half of 2028.

HJSC has meanwhile pushed the physical limits of its Yeongdo yard with its new 10,100 teu design. Earlier this year, Bremen-based D. Oltmann Reederei was identified behind four such ships, ordered in two pairs for delivery between April and October 2028.

Navios has continued to expand across sectors in 2026. Its August filing listed 29 newbuildings in its pipeline — three capesizes, seven containerships and 19 tankers — while contracted revenue stood at around $4.4bn. If the latest HJSC attribution is confirmed, the four ships would sit on top of that disclosed newbuilding programme.