Hercules Tanker Management (HTM) plans to further expand its fleet and has ordered four new vessels from a Chinese shipyard. The company is a new private shipping company set up by John Bassadone, founder of marine fuel filler Peninsula.
HTM has signed a contract for the construction of four 7,700 dwt IMO II chemical tankers with Jiangmen Hangtong Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. of CCCC Fourth Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. at an undisclosed price.
Deliveries of the new vessels are expected to begin in the second half of 2025, at three-month intervals. And will be time chartered to Peninsula as part of the Gibraltar-based bunker group’s fleet modernization programme.
HTM said the four “ultra-spec” chemical tankers will be suitable for the supply of methanol and 100 percent biofuels, and will be equipped with diesel-electric and battery-ready power units that will reduce emissions by about 20 percent compared to other conventional product tankers.
“It was perhaps perceived as a risk when HTM was first-to-market with these orders over 2 years ago, but we always had the confidence, driven by Peninsula’s global customer reach, that these ships have an important future role to play in alternative fuel supply,” Bassadone added.
HTM also ordered two 18,000 cbm LNG bunkering barges not long ago from South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Mipo at a cost of about $92.7 million each, which are expected to be delivered in November 2027. The company currently manages a fleet of more than 40 vessels ranging from conventional bunkering barges to product tankers.