Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine is said to have selected four shipyards in Asia to build up to 20 neo-panamax containerships for delivery from 2023 at a cost of around $2.3bn.

Japan’s Imabari Shipbuilding, South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries and China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) and Jiangnan Shipyard have been named as the shipbuilders.

Industry sources said Imabari Shipbuilding will take lion’s share of the orders with 10 ships, five will be built by SHI and the remaining five split between Hudong-Zhonghua and Jiangnan.