Eastern Pacific Shipping Orders Four Imabari Boxships

Eastern Pacific Shipping ordered four midsize container vessels from Japan's Imabari Shipbuilding on Nov. 4, 2026, marking its first boxship transaction with a Japanese shipyard in four years.

The four-vessel deal carries an estimated market value of $360 million, representing roughly 6.5% of the Singapore-based tonnage provider's active $5.5 billion container orderbook.

The transaction covers two 9,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels and two 6,000 TEU hulls, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2030.

The order lifts Eastern Pacific Shipping's container backlog to more than 65 vessels, according to shipbuilding brokers.

Eastern Pacific Shipping, controlled by Israeli principal Idan Ofer, had concentrated its recent fleet expansion in Chinese yards.

The company booked eight 6,000 TEU hulls at Hengli Heavy Industry and China Merchants yards last year, alongside feeder vessels at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard.

Chinese and South Korean shipbuilders have filled their construction slots through 2028 and into 2029, leaving global shipping lines with few delivery berths for late-decade fleet replacement.

Major carriers seeking midsize tonnage have encountered multi-year queues at South Korean majors such as Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which have prioritized high-margin liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and large container vessels.

Imabari Shipbuilding, Japan's largest shipyard operator, held orders for 81 vessels totaling 4.06 million gross tons as of its latest annual filing.

The Japanese shipbuilder's forward orderbook spans approximately four years of yard activity, with select delivery slots extending to 2030.

The transaction reflects an easing of commercial resistance toward Japanese shipyards, where a weaker yen has narrowed price premiums against Chinese competition.

Imabari Shipbuilding offers verified delivery reliability, which global charterers require when arranging long-term vessel leases.

Eastern Pacific Shipping has maintained operational links with the shipyard's host region, serving as the official sponsor of Japanese football club FC Imabari since March 2024.

The order coincides with an industrial push by Tokyo to double domestic shipbuilding volume.

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is executing a national strategy to raise annual domestic ship production from 9 million gross tons to 18 million gross tons by 2035.

The ministry approved 900 billion yen ($5.75 billion) in combined public and private shipyard investments on Sept. 11, 2026.

Under that program, the Japanese government established the Shipbuilding Industry Revitalization Fund to subsidize automated welding equipment, dock expansions and mega-block gantry cranes.

The ministry designated the ship hull as a critical material under Japan's Economic Security Promotion Act.

A corporate consortium comprising Imabari Shipbuilding, Tadotsu Shipbuilding and Steel Hub secured approval for up to 113.8 billion yen ($727 million) in state capital assistance, MLIT records show.

That grant is the largest single allocation distributed under the ministry's eight-yard support plan.

The state funds are designated to modernize assembly lines and automate cutting and bending processes across Imabari Shipbuilding's production sites in Ehime Prefecture.

Imabari Shipbuilding reported earlier that rising raw material expenses had elevated quotation prices across its conventional commercial vessel lines.

The company stated that charterers continue to accept these prices due to reliable vessel performance and on-time yard execution.

Neither Eastern Pacific Shipping nor Imabari Shipbuilding has released regulatory filings or formal press releases confirming the final contract price or vessel fuel specifications.

Broker assessments have not confirmed whether the four ordered hulls will incorporate scrubbers for conventional bunker fuel or dual-fuel machinery capable of burning alternative maritime fuels.

Eastern Pacific Shipping holds deliveries for six 6,000 TEU container vessels at Hengli Heavy Industry scheduled from 2027 through 2028, according to yard delivery rosters.

Those prior Chinese contracts included exhaust gas cleaning systems and elevated reefer plug counts, priced at approximately $80 million per hull.

The 2030 delivery timeline for the four Imabari hulls aligns with fleet replacement requirements for regional liner operators.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism conducts its next formal progress review of the Shipbuilding Industry Revitalization Fund in 2029 under its three-year milestone framework.