NYK Line is gearing up to place orders for 12 LNG-fuelled pure car/truck carriers in a deal described as Japan’s largest car-carrier order.

The Japanese shipowner is reported to be spending $912m en bloc for the 7,000-ceu ships, or around $76m per vessel, according to Fearnley Securities.

The vessel order will be evenly split between Shin Kurushima Dockyard and the newly launched Nihon Shipyard, a joint venture of Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United (JMU).