BYD has reportedly ordered 10 additional car carriers, each with a capacity of 9,200 car equivalent units, according to maritime publications New Ships and shipping platform Robin Assasfina. If completed, the order would expand BYD’s fleet to 18 vessels and raise its total carrying capacity to more than 130,000 car equivalent units.
China Merchants Industry is expected to build the ships at its Jinling and Haimen shipyards, with deliveries scheduled between 2027 and 2029, according to the reports. No contract value was disclosed, and neither BYD nor the shipbuilder has made an official announcement about the order.
The vessels are described as pure car and truck carriers, or PCTCs, which are designed to transport vehicles. Their capacity is measured in car equivalent units (CEU), a standard used in maritime shipping to compare vehicle-carrying space rather than count a fixed number of cars. The reported addition would bring 92,000 CEU of extra capacity.
BYD completed its initial eight-ship fleet in September 2025, when BYD Jinan entered operation. The other vessels in the fleet are Explorer No.1, Hefei, Changzhou, Shenzhen, Xi’an, Changsha, and Zhengzhou. All eight are roll-on/roll-off ships, designed so vehicles can be driven on and off the vessels without containers. Depending on the ship, the eight-vessel fleet has a capacity of 7,200 or 9,000 cars per ship.
The company originally began building the fleet with Explorer No. 1, which was delivered in January 2024. Its builder, CIMC, said the vessel was delivered to Zodiac Maritime and chartered to BYD.
CarNewsChina estimates that adding 10 more ships would increase BYD’s reported export capacity from 1 million to 2.5 million cars per year. BYD’s shipping operations also serve factories outside China. In September 2025, BYD Zhengzhou carried right-hand-drive vehicles from the company’s Thailand plant to the United Kingdom, marking BYD’s first vehicle exports from that facility.
Source: CarNewsChina
