Following the delivery of the first ocean-going vessel, Hengli Heavy Industry made another breakthrough in the field of liquefied gas carriers and small and medium-sized container vessels, and successfully won orders up to eight vessels, with a total value of more than RMB 5 billion (about $700 million).
According to Trade Winds, Hengli Heavy Industry has received new orders for at least four very large liquid ammonia carriers (VLACs), formally entering the gas carrier construction field.
The order comes from Hengli Group, the parent company of Hengli Heavy Industry, and sources said that the order quantity may be more than four vessels. The specification of these new vessels is 93,000 cbm, and the price is not yet known, but as a reference, the price of the 93,000 cbm VLAC that Jiangnan Shipyard recently undertook from AW Shipping was about $125 million, and based on this, the market value of the four VLACs amounts to $500 million, which is about RMB 3.56 billion.
Hengli Group’s order for the new vessels is expected to be used primarily in the petrochemical and textile transportation business, “but may also be sold if the price is right,” it said. This is in line with Hengli Group’s market strategy of placing orders for VLCCs from its own shipyards for resale.
In September 2023, Hengli Group commissioned Hengli Heavy Industry to build two 306,000 DWT VLCCs, the new vessels are using traditional marine fuel and are scheduled to be delivered by February 2026 one after another. With this order, Hengli Heavy Industry has officially entered the VLCC field. In September 2024, Hengli Group ordered four additional VLCCs from its own shipyard, which are expected to be delivered in 2026 and 2027 successively.
In April this year, news that Hengli Group resold two VLCCs to Dynacom Tankers, the tanker shipping company owned by Greek king George Procopiou, at a reported price of $122 million each, marking Dynacom Tankers’ first foray into the VLCC newbuilding resale market in nearly 10 years.
In addition, Hengli Group is currently negotiating with Evalend Shipping for the sale of two additional newbuild VLCCs previously ordered.
According to industry sources, recently, Norwegian small and medium-sized container ship operator MPC Container Ships (MPCC) has signed a letter of intent with Hengli Heavy Industry to order 2+2 4,350 TEU container ships.
The new vessels are powered by conventional marine fuels and are priced between $59 million and $60 million per vessel, with the first vessels expected to be delivered in the first half of 2026. MPCC said the order will be confirmed as soon as a charter contract is secured. The order, if fully effected, will have a total value of $236 million.
If this order takes effect, it will be the first order for small and medium-sized container ships received by Hengli Heavy Industry since its establishment.
MPCC’s latest financial results show that the company achieved solid operational and financial performance, supported by efficient operations and continued high fleet utilization. In the second quarter of this year, its orders on hand increased to $1.1 billion, with operating income of $130.9 million and EBITDA of $84.4 million. As of the end of June 2024, the MPCC fleet consists of 55 vessels with a total capacity of approximately 120,000 TEU.