European tanker giant EURONAV has revealed that it has exercised an option on a second newbuild Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) with Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).
In August this year, Beihai Shipbuilding signed a contract with EURONAV for the construction of 1+1 319,000 DWT VLCC. With this order, Beihai Shipbuilding formally entered the VLCC construction field to further enhance its market competitiveness. At that time, the shipowner indicated that he could choose to order a second vessel of the same type within two months. Each vessel will cost US$112.2 million and will be delivered in 2026.
The VLCC has an overall length of 339.50 meters, a beam of 60.00 meters, a depth of 30.30 meters, a structural draught of 22.50 meters and a speed of 14.5 knots, which meets the requirements of the International Maritime Organization’s TIER III emission standards and the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) index for ships in Phase III. In the future, it will be able to be equipped with two 6,000 mbc ammonia fuel tanks to achieve a “zero-carbon” operation on a full voyage. “According to VesselsValue, the first ship will be equipped with scrubbers.
EURONAV is known as an independent tanker company engaged in the ocean transportation and storage of crude oil, listed on Euronext in Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange, and operates both spot and futures markets in its owned and chartered fleet.
Recently, EURONAV’s majority shareholder, CMB, and Frontline entered into a major deal that includes Frontline’s purchase of 24 environmentally friendly VLCCs from Euronav for a total purchase price of $2.35 billion.
The deal expands Frontline’s fleet size to 89 vessels, including 46 VLCCs, 25 Suezmax tankers and 18 Aframax/LR2 tankers, a move that makes the company the largest tanker owner by deadweight tonnage in the public sector and reduces the average age of its fleet to 6.1 years, and the addition of the 24 new environmentally friendly VLCCs will improve the company’s fuel efficiency and reduce fleet emissions.
At present, Euronav is preparing to diversify and modernize its fleet with a focus on integrating alternative fuels and fleet modernization. Following the completion of the deal with Frontline, CMB plans to develop a bold decarbonization strategy for the company.