Wan Hai Lines marks eco-friendly 13K TEU boxship series as complete

August 15, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

Taiwan-based shipping company Wan Hai Lines has held a naming ceremony for its brand-new, energy-efficient container vessel built by South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI).

As disclosed, the containership was christened WAN HAI A20 on August 14 at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje shipyard. Now that it has been handed over, the newbuilding is set to be deployed on the company’s Asia to South America (West Coast) “ASA” service.

WAN HAI A20 is the final unit in a series of thirteen 13,100 TEU boxships booked by Wan Hai Lines in 2021 and 2022 from the South Korean shipbuilding giant. As informed, the newbuild series features an overall length of 335 meters, a width of 51 meters and a draft of 16 meters.

The vessels’ environmental performance has reportedly been ‘enhanced’ with newly designed engines that are expected to help lower energy, i.e., fuel consumption. In addition to this, the last three newbuilds of the batch, starting with the Wan Hai A18, are said to have been outfitted with wind deflectors on the forecastle, which is anticipated to slash fuel consumption further.

All thirteen units are understood to have obtained the “Smart Ship” notation, as well, which is envisioned to allow for the use of monitoring systems and communication equipment to collect ‘real-time’ navigation data and ensure safe transportation services.

Wan Hai Lines welcomed the first two containerships from this batch, the WAN HAI A07 and WAN HAI A08, in October 2022, while the third one followed just months later, namely in February the following year. The ninth unit—the WAN HAI A17—was added to the maritime transportation player’s roster in June 2024 and then christened in September of that same year.

With the 13,100 TEU series completed, in the upcoming years, the Taiwanese company is scheduled to take delivery of 30 more newbuild vessels. Handovers are planned between 2026 and 2030.

Among these are a total of twelve units ordered from South Korean shipyards in October 2024; namely, four boxships, which are to be powered by methanol, were booked at HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, a subsidiary of South Korean shipbuilding giant HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), at the beginning of the month.

At the end of October, Wan Hai Lines commissioned SHI and HD Hyundai Samho to construct eight more boxships of the same specifications.

In April 2025, Wan Hai Lines returned to SHI and HD Hyundai Samho, having signed a deal worth a whopping $816 million for the construction of a quartet of dual-fuel methanol-ready container vessels.

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