Evergreen Group, one of Taiwan’s leading transport conglomerates, has agreed to charter 11 large ships as part of its efforts to expand capacity and raise the efficiency and economy of scale of its fleet.

Evergreen Group signed an agreement with Japan-based Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. for the group’s subsidiaries, including Evergreen Marine, to charter eleven 18,000 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) ships. Delivery of the 11 chartered vessels will start in 2018 and run through 2019.

TEUs are a measurement of a container ship’s capacity.

The charter agreement makes Evergreen Group the first member of the CKYHE Alliance to introduce such large vessels. In addition to Evergreen Group, the CKYHE Alliance also has China’s COSCO Container Lines and South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping, as well as Taiwan-based Yang Ming and “K” Line of Japan, which are cooperating in major east-west shipping services.

Evergreen Group said that Shoei will take instructions from the group to construct the 11 ships to meet the Taiwanese client’s needs.

According to Evergreen Group, the design of the 11 new ships incorporates optimized hull profiles and minimum ballast water requirements to maximize cargo carrying capability, giving the vessels strengthened hull structure and increased navigation safety.

Moreover, the new vessels will meet stringent eco-friendly criteria as they will be equipped with various environmental protection devices to cut fuel consumption.

Sources from Evergreen Marine said the mega-ships will be suitable for serving routes to Europe, which will strengthen the Taiwanese shipper’s competitive edge by cutting operating costs.

Before the latest charter agreement, Evergreen Group said it had previously agreed to charter 10 14,000 TEU ships, delivery of which will start in 2016 and be completed in 2017.

Currently, Evergreen Group has a fleet of 196 vessels, 102 of which are self-owned and 94 of which are chartered.