Wan Hai Lines, Ltd. () is a Taiwanese shipping company. Founded in 1965, it has become one of the largest companies in the container shipping industry. As of January 2023, its 142 vessels had a total carrying capacity of 430,854 TEUs.
History In Wan Hai's early days, most of its business was shipping lumber between Taiwan, Japan, and Southeast Asia. In 1976, as international trade in the Asia-Pacific region expanded and international transportation moved to containerization, Wan Hai entered the business of container vessel shipping.
Wan Hai eventually expanded its Asia shipping network to services to Canada, U.S., South America, Africa, and Middle East.
In August 2017, a new weekly service to Cambodia from Taiwan was added, also regularly calling China and Thailand for loading and discharging cargo.
In August 2018, the company ordered 20 new ships, including eight large vessels and 12 small feeder ships, from Japanese and Chinese shipyards. On 21 January 2021, Wan Hai ordered 50,000 new containers from China International Marine Containers due to shortages in the international container market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December 2022, Wan Hai Lines put ten of its older container ships up for sale for scrap to reduce the size of its fleet, including Wan Hai 165, with the stipulation that buyers would be required to send the ships to scrapyards that met the company's environmental standards. On December 19, 2023, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Pier 79 and 81 docks at Kaohsiung Port was held at an auspicious time on (19).
Controversy
Affiliation with Nationalist Party of China The company has been found having links with Nationalist Party of China despite repeated clarifications.
Fleet +Container ship classes of Wan Hai LinesShip classBuiltCapacity (TEU)Ships in classNotes2020–onwards1,900128 to be built by Japan Marine United Corporation and 4 to be built by CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding2020–onwards2,03812To be built by Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard2020–onwards3,0368To be built by Japan Marine United Corporation2022–onwards3,01312To be built by Japan Marine United Corporation2023–onwards13,2005To be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries2023–onwards13,1005To be built by Samsung Heavy Industries2023–onwards3,05512To be built by Nihon Shipyard2027–202816,0008To be built by HD Hyundai Samho and Samsung Heavy Industries.2028–20298,00016To be built by CSBC Corporation.2028–20298,7004To be built by HD Hyundai Samho.2028–202916,0004To be built by HD Hyundai Samho and Samsung Heavy Industries.20306,0006To be built by CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding.
See also List of companies of Taiwan List of largest container shipping companies
References
External links