Chinese shipbuilding companies sign large contract with Canadian corporation

Chinese shipbuilding companies on Friday signed a contract in Shanghai with Canada's Seaspan Corporation, the world's largest independent container ship lessor, for the construction of six 13,600 TEU large container vessels.

The contract was signed by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., China Shipbuilding Trading Co., Ltd., and Seaspan Corporation. The contract is the largest shipbuilding order settled in RMB in China this year.

The 13,600 TEU large container vessel in the contract is a green and environmentally friendly container vessel developed and designed independently by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd.

With a total length of around 336 meters and a width of 51 meters, it can accommodate a maximum of 14,132 standard containers and offer 2,000 reefer container slots.

The order is the third batch of a total of 15 large container vessels that Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd has undertaken this year. It is the first time that the contract is settled in China's currency, the renminbi (RMB), and it is also the largest single shipbuilding order that is settled in RMB for container vessels in China this year, marking a significant step towards advancing the internationalization of RMB.

The construction of the vessels are scheduled to be completed and delivered between 2026 and 2028.

Chinese shipbuilding companies sign large contract with Canadian corporation

The 24th round of ocean discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was completed on Friday, with 7,852 tonnes released, according to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), the plant's operator.

The latest release, also the sixth round of fiscal 2026, began on Oct. 5. The newly discharged wastewater contained approximately 1.2 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium. Total discharge across all 24 rounds has reached about 188,400 tonnes.

Despite strong doubts and opposition from the international community, Japan unilaterally launched the ocean discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant in August 2023.

TEPCO's official data show that as of Oct. 8, about 1.226 million tonnes of contaminated water remained in storage tanks at the plant, only eight percent less than before the discharge began.

Japan releases nearly 8,000 tonnes of nuclear-tainted wastewater in 24th ocean discharge