Italy’s Grimaldi Group has bolstered its ammonia-ready car carrier orderbook in China with two more newbuilds.

The Naples-based company has exercised options with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) for 9，000 ceu pair adding to the previous five ships booked at CSSC-affiliated Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and China Shipbuilding Trading Company in January.

The 200 m-long duo， designed to carry electric vehicles， will deliver in 2026 and be deployed on voyages between Europe， North Africa， and Asia.

The seven-ship deal is worth more than $630m and takes Grimaldi Group’s total ammonia-ready car carrier orderbook to 17 ships of which the remaining 10 will be built by China Merchant Industry Holdings.

“Investing in the design and construction of such large， eco-friendly vessels as these new ammonia-ready PCTC units means making a concrete contribution both to the development of international trade and to the ecological transition in the shipping sector，” said Emanuele Grimaldi， Group’s managing director， adding: “Our fleet modernization project is extremely ambitious， but this is the kind of initiatives that our sector needs to tackle decarbonisation， one of the most urgent and demanding challenges of our time”.