Yasa tipped for debut VLCC order
The Sabanci-controlled group is linked to four 319,000 dwt VLCCs in China as supertanker contracting runs hot.
Turkish owner Yasa Holding is being linked to its first VLCC newbuilding order as contracting in the supertanker segment continues to accelerate. While neither the owner nor the yard has confirmed anything, newbuilding sources suggest the Sabanci family-controlled group has agreed to build four 319,000 dwt units at Jiangsu New Hantong Ship Heavy Industry, valued at $125m each and scheduled for delivery in 2029.
The Istanbul-based group already has VLCC exposure through the secondhand market, with a current fleet of three: the 2012-built 318,438 dwt Yasa Southern Cross, and the 313,998 dwt sisters Yasa Hercules and Yasa Scorpion, built at HD HHI Gunsan in 2013. In total, Yasa's tanker arm lists 21 vessels of about 2.33m dwt combined, spanning VLCCs to MR product carriers.
The owner has been active in tanker newbuildings in recent years, particularly in China — ordering LR2/aframax tonnage at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, with 2026 deliveries adding to its product and crude fleet, and it is also listed with a suezmax series at Guangzhou Shipyard International for delivery later this decade. It has added MR newbuildings at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding too, with several 50,000 dwt units joining this year. The reported VLCC move comes during one of the busiest spells for supertanker contracting in years, with owners rushing to lock in long-dated slots; ordering across the final quarter of 2025 and the opening quarter of 2026 has already topped the highest full-year VLCC tally on record.
