Mercuria Energy Trading, a multinational company, has signed a contract for the construction of two 300,000 dwt VLCCs through an innovative form of long term chartering and owning of vessels with China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS), according to Trade Winds.
The new VLCCs run on conventional fuel and are expected to be delivered in 2027 and 2028. Sources in the shipbuilding industry revealed that the cost of a single unit is about $120 million (about RMB 869 million) and the total value of the order is $240 million (about RMB 1.738 billion).
Founded in 2004, Mercuria Energy Trading is one of the world’s leading independent energy and commodities groups. It currently operates a fleet of 42 vessels, including 37 owned vessels and 2 VLCCs on charter.
The above order is not the first time Mercuria Energy Trading has placed an order in a Chinese shipyard. In August last year, Mare Balticum, the company’s joint venture with ETA Shipping of the Netherlands, placed an order with Taizhou Sanfu Shipbuilding for 6+10 7,400 dwt multi-purpose general cargo vessels. The new vessels will be delivered in 2025, with a contract value of just under $250 million and a unit price of about $15 million.
SWS used to be the main shipyard for building VLCCs in China. According to the company’s official website, SWS has designed and built the world’s first 318,000 dwt VLCC “Huashan”, which fully meets the latest International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) specifications. By the end of 2019, SWS’s cumulative deliveries of 300,000 dwt-class VLCCs account for 9% of the global VLCC fleet. Mercuria Energy Trading’s order marks SWS’s return to this market for VLCCs after many years.