Greek owner Minerva Marine has topped up its container newbuilding programme， placing orders for two more 3，100 teu ships at Penglai Jinglu Shipyard in China.

The latest contracts follow a three-ship order placed in October， taking the series to five vessels in total. Deliveries are scheduled for 2027 and early 2028， according to market sources.

The ships are understood to be based on SDARI’s Sealion 2900 design， built to chittagongmax specifications， with a nominal capacity of just over 3，000 teu， Alphaliner said. Pricing is estimated at around $43m per vessel.

Penglai Jinglu has already established a track record in this size segment， having delivered similar ships to Celsius Shipping of Denmark. Variants of the same base design are also in service or on order at other Chinese yards， including Guangzhou Wenchong， Mawei Shipyard and Yangzijiang， Alphaliner noted.

Minerva， the Andreas Martinos-led shipping group， entered the container sector in mid-2023 with an order for two 1，800 teu bangkokmax newbuildings. Since then， it has steadily grown its boxship exposure， building up a fleet of eight container vessels through a mix of newbuild and secondhand purchases.