China’s largest private shipbuilder, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, has once again won a new order in the tanker market.
Greek shipping company Evalend Shipping has returned to Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group to place an additional order for four 75,000 dwt LR1 product tankers, bringing its order book at the shipyard to 10 vessels of the same type, according to Trade Winds.
The additional order for four 75,000 dwt LR1 product tankers had been contracted for shipbuilding some time earlier this year, but had never been reported before, sources said. The new shipbuildings, which are traditionally fueled, are expected to be delivered in 2027.
With the rising cost of new shipbuilding, referring to Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group’s publicized orders for 75,000 dwt product tankers this year, the price of each product tanker is between US$54 million and US$56 million. And if calculated in this way, the value of Evalend Shipping’s four additional orders is between US$216 million (RMB1.569 billion) and US$224 million (RMB1.627 billion).
It is understood that six other 75,000 dwt LR1 product tankers ordered by Evalend Shipping from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group were made public in June (4 units) and August (2 units) 2023, when it was reported that the price of each product tanker was over US$50 million, and will be delivered in the second half of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026 (4 units) and in the second quarter of 2026 (2 units), respectively.
It is reported that, including Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group’s product tanker order, Evalend Shipping has signed a total of three newbuilding contracts this year, the other two are two 174,000 m³ liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and two 91,000 m³ Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs), all of which were built by South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.