Shipyards compete with AI for engines

Everllence A familiar constraint from shipping’s last great shipbuilding boom is beginning to reappear: yards are short of engines. Splash understands a lack of available main engines is now curbing shipyard output at the margin, echoing conditions last seen during the 2007 ordering frenzy. The pressure is most visible in dual-fuel low-speed two-stroke engines, where production lines are stretched by a record newbuilding wave and increasingly complex specifications. Alphaliner has identified the same problem in container shipping, reporting that several mid-sized boxship projects of around 6,000 teu have stalled in recent months because timely main engine building slots could not be secured. Some Chinese second- and third-tier yards, which had been offering relatively prompt deliveries for vessels built to international specifications, are understood to have walked away from initial offers once engine availability became clearer. Shipping’s equipment cycle has begun to overlap with another global boom: artificial intelligence Established yards with strong supplier relationships are still securing equipment, while some delays can be absorbed into construction schedules. But the constraint is now material enough to affect delivery assumptions. “We’ve certainly heard that the availability of engines is having an impact on some yards, in terms of output,” said Adam Kent, who heads up consultancy Maritime Strategies International. “However, I think this is ultimately leading to delays and pushing out deliveries rather than yards not taking orders.” Kent added that engine prices are helping support elevated newbuilding prices. The pressure is not confined to main propulsion. Shipowners have also reported growing difficulty sourcing auxiliary diesels and generator sets, with longer lead times and rising prices. This is where shipping’s equipment cycle has begun to overlap with another global boom: artificial intelligence. Data centres require huge volumes of reliable backup power, often supplied by large industrial diesel or gas generator sets in the 1 MW to 4 MW range. Many of the manufacturers serving this demand overlap with the broader marine and industrial power ecosystem. Wärtsilä announced in May that it would expand technical production capacity by a further 30%, following a 35% expansion announced in February, taking total planned expansion to 65% compared with 2025 capacity. The company explicitly cited growing demand from both the energy and marine industries. Rolls-Royce has also moved to increase production of mtu Series 4000 generator sets in the US, saying a new logistics centre in Minnesota would help more than double production capacity compared with 2024 levels, driven by record demand from the data centre sector. The pressure is visible further down the supply chain. Accelleron said it delivered a record 8,000 TPX44 turbochargers for data centre and critical infrastructure applications in 2025, more than tripling output year on year. That does not prove data centres are directly displacing marine orders one-for-one. But it does show that shipbuilding is now competing with AI infrastructure for parts of the same industrial power supply chain. Kent said he has read that auxiliary engine manufacturers are favouring data centre sales at premium prices, although he has not heard this directly from owners. Roar Adland, who heads up research at broker SSY, cautioned that bottlenecks could disappear if incentives are strong enough. “I’d ask whether increasing Chinese domestic production of international brand engines on licence would solve this too,” he said. “Such bottlenecks tend to be resolved if the economic incentives are there.” Burak Cetinok, Adland’s counterpart at Arrow, another British broking house, argued that longer lead times should not be confused with a systemic shortage. “We are not aware of any widespread shortages or delays in main engine deliveries that are materially disrupting shipyard delivery schedules,” he told Splash. “There may well be isolated cases, but we do not believe this is having a meaningful impact on overall shipyard output.” Cetinok accepted that sustained ordering has lengthened procurement times for engines, generators and other critical equipment, and that data centre demand has tightened supply for some generator sets. Established yards continue to receive equipment, Cetinok reported, while newer or reactivated yards are more exposed because they are “joining the back of the queue”. Sam Chambers Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International