Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) hassigned shipbuilding contracts with South Korean yard Daewoo Shipbuilding &Marine Engineering (DSME) for the construction of five 23,000 TEU megacontainerships for around $762m in total.

The latest order is an option exercised byMSC as part of an 11-ship order made by the company back in September 2017.

MSC predicted a significant number of13,000TEU and 14,000 TEU vessels will come off-hire in the coming years and thenew order is expected to effectively replace this fleet.

MSC has already taken delivery of two23,000 TEU ships from DSME this year, and delivery of these latest shipsordered is expected in 2021.