Yangzijiang Maritime Signs for Up to 12 More Newbuildings Across Two Chinese Yards
Six firm ultramaxes at Nanyang and two MR product tankers at Qidong Qianyao, worth about $450m
Singapore-listed Yangzijiang Maritime Development has signed for up to 12 more newbuildings at two Chinese yards, extending an ordering run that has spread across dry bulk, product and chemical tankers.
The company, led by Ren Yuanlin, has signed for six firm plus four optional 64,500 dwt ultramax bulkers at Jingjiang Nanyang Shipbuilding. A separate deal covers two 50,000 dwt MR product tankers at Qidong Qianyao Heavy Industry, with the combined value of the latest push put at around $450m.
The MR pair would take the firm programme at Qidong Qianyao to 12 ships, comprising four 40,000 dwt bulkers and eight 50,000 dwt product tankers. Yangzijiang Maritime is no stranger to Nanyang either, where its predecessor maritime investment business placed more than 10 ships. Four MR newbuildings from that earlier programme were subsequently sold to Scorpio Tankers, with the first delivered in July.
That resale is the model rather than an exception. Yangzijiang Maritime builds standardised tonnage at Chinese yards and then places it with operators, which means the orderbook functions as inventory rather than as a fleet plan tied to specific trades.
The new deals add another layer to a rapidly expanding portfolio. Last month the company returned to Jiangsu Haifeng for four MRs and two LR2s in a package shipbuilding sources put at more than $320m. A week later it was linked with Taihua Ship Management to four firm plus two optional 28,000 dwt duplex stainless-steel chemical tankers at Zhoushan Ningxing Shipbuilding, a move covered when Yangzijiang Maritime pushed into stainless steel chemical tankers.
Yangzijiang Maritime's portfolio stood at more than 120 ships at the end of June, including over 60 newbuildings. On that count, roughly half of what the company controls has yet to touch the water.
