The Universe class is a series of 6 container ships built for COSCO SHIPPING Lines. The ships have a maximum theoretical capacity of 21,237 TEU.[1] They are some of the largest container ships ever built and was the second class of ships to exceed 21,000 TEU of capacity after the OOCL G-class (21,413 TEU). At the time they were also the largest Chinese built container ships.[2]
The ships were built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. They were originally ordered for a 12 year charter by China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL).[3] In 2016, a merger took place in which CSCL and its fleet became part of COSCO.[4] This happened well before the ships would be finished and as a result the ships were all delivered with COSCO Shipping name and colors.
| Ship | Yard number | IMO number | Delivery | Status | ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COSCO Shipping Universe | 1416 | 9795610 | 12 Jun 2018 | In service | ||
| COSCO Shipping Nebula | 1417 | 9795622 | 23 Oct 2018 | In service | ||
| COSCO Shipping Galaxy | 1420 | 9795634 | 18 Apr 2019 | In service | ||
| COSCO Shipping Solar | 1427 | 9795646 | 25 Apr 2019 | In service | ||
| COSCO Shipping Star | 1428 | 9795658 | 27 Jun 2019 | In service | ||
| COSCO Shipping Planet | 1429 | 9795660 | 6 Sep 2019 | In service |