Monte Nero Maritime has signed a contract for the construction of three 63,500 dwt Ultramax bulk carriers with XMXYG Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (XMXYG SOE), with the cost of a single unit of about $34 million and the total value of the order of about $102 million (RMB 742 million). And the new shipbuildings are expected to be delivered in the second half of 2025 and 2026, according to Trade Winds News.
According to the sources, the shipbuilding contract for XMXYG SOE was signed earlier this year with an option for one vessel of the same type. The new bulk carriers will reportedly be equipped with a 6G50ME-C9.6-HPSCR main engine manufactured by Yu Chai Marine Power (YMP) to meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Tier III emission standards and Ship Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) Phase III requirements.
In recent years, Ultramax bulk carriers have become the “star” ship of XMXYG SOE, and the total order quantity of the bulk carriers has exceeded one hundred, ranking the first among Chinese shipyards. In addition to the above new declared orders, on March 12 this year, XMXYG SOE and Xiamen Financial Leasing and COSCO Shipping Bulk signed a contract for the construction of 8 methanol READY 64,000 DWT bulk carriers.
XMXYG SOE currently has a total of 76 vessels on hand in its order book, including 58 bulk carriers, 16 chemical tankers and two open top hatch vessels, with deliveries scheduled to 2029, according to Clarkson data.
At present, XMXYG SOE mainly produces environmentally friendly and energy-saving bulk carriers of less than 100,000 tons, oil tankers and container ships, small and medium-sized stainless steel/special- coating chemical tankers, as well as other engineering vessels.
Notably, Monte Nero Maritime has also recently ordered four 50,000 dwt MR product tankers from another Chinese shipyard, Huanghai Shipbuilding, at a cost of about $45 million each, with a total order value of about $180 million, which is expected to be delivered between 2026 and 2027.
Together with the three bulk carrier orders, Monte Nero Maritime has spent a cumulative total of about $282 million (RMB 2.051 billion) on new vessels from Chinese shipyards.