Samsung Heavy Industries plans to outsource four Suezmax tankers to PaxOcean Engineering Zhoushan Co.Ltd (POEZ), meaning the two companies will collaborate on shipbuilding once again.
Recently, Samsung Heavy Industries announced that it had received an order for four 158,000 DWT Suezmax tankers from Greek shipowner Centrofin, with a total value of US$325 million and a single vessel cost of US$81.25 million. The vessels are expected to be delivered before December 2028. This order is not the first cooperation between the two parties. From 2020 to 2021, Centrofin ordered a total of five Suezmax tankers from Samsung Heavy Industries.
Centrofin, founded in 1992, is known to have a fleet of 24 tankers and 19 bulk carriers, managed by Marine Trust and Trust Bulkers respectively, with a total deadweight of over 4.7 million tons.
In the bulk carrier market, Centrofin’s latest shipbuilding contract is with Hengli Heavy Industries, with the two parties signing a contract for the construction of six 82,000 DWT bulk carriers in mid-2024, which are expected to be delivered within two years. The new vessels are traditionally fueled with desulphurization towers.
Notably, this is the second time Samsung Heavy Industries has outsourced tanker orders to this Zhoushan shipyard.
Last November, Samsung Heavy Industries outsourced the construction of four 158,000 DWT Suezmax tankers ordered by Dynacom Tankers owned by Greek ship magnate George Procopiou to POEZ, making it another shipbuilder to enter the field of large tanker construction. Samsung Heavy Industries will be responsible for the design, guarantee, equipment and material procurement of the new vessel, while POEZ will be responsible for the construction. This is the first time that the two shipbuilders have cooperated in shipbuilding.
PaxOcean Group (PaxOcean) is a member of the Kuok Maritime Group (KMG) which is part of Kuok Group Singapore (KGSg). PaxOcean owns and operates five shipyards located in Singapore, China and Indonesia. First established in 2007 in Singapore, PaxOcean offers a wide range of services covering integrated solutions, newbuilding, module engineering and fabrication, green recycling, repairs and conversion of conventional and renewable energy assets.
POEZ has been in operation since 2010 and has one 500,000-ton slipway (400m * 106m * 13.7m), one 400,000-ton slipway (380m * 80m * 13.7m) and two 12-meter-deep ship repair wharves ( with a total length of 976m). The dock is capable of accommodating ULCCs, VLOCs, FPSOs, all types of vessels up to 400,000 DWT, and container vessels up to 16,000 TEU.