Oldendorff Carriers has extended its newbuilding orderbook with more kamsarmax bulk carriers.
The German bulker giant has returned to its favourite shipyard, Jiangsu New Hantong Ship Heavy Industry, for two 82,000-dwt ships, bringing its total orderbook at the yard to 12 vessels.
Some shipbuilding brokers said Oldendorff has inked up to six newbuildings, but the owner told TradeWinds it has only booked two vessels.
Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network shows Oldendorff has 10 kamsarmaxes on order at New Hantong of which nine were ordered last year and one in 2021.
New Hantong is slated to deliver one bulker — to be called Kaya Oldendorff — in May, four vessels in 2025 and the remaining five in 2026.
As for the company’s latest two newbuildings, shipbuilding sources said they are also set for 2026 delivery.
The price of Oldendorff’s latest orders has yet to emerge, but newbuilding brokers said Chinese shipyards are seeking around $36.5m for a conventional marine-fuelled kamsarmax.
Oldendorff’s newbuildings will be built to the latest 82k design by the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute based on NOX Tier 3 and the International Maritime Organization’s Phase 3 Energy Efficiency Design Index standards.
The shipowner said some of the 12 ships have already been resold to another company, but it declined to disclose the number of vessels and buyers’ identity.
Resale sextet
In 2021 and 2022, Oldendorff also ordered 12 kamsarmax bulk carriers at New Hantong, ultimately selling six vessels before their delivery.
Greece’s Laskaridis Maritime is believed to be the buyer of the sextet. It took delivery of the bulkers between 2022 and early 2024.
Online database VesselsValue shows Oldendorff has four 208,000-dwt bulk carriers under construction at the same Chinese shipyard for delivery this year. But the shipowner said it does not have any newcastlemaxes on order at New Hantong.
New Hantong is a privately owned shipyard established by structural engineer turned entrepreneur Meng Cheng-Jun in 2003 during the shipbuilding boom.
It started by constructing supramax bulk carriers, then moved into larger ship types when Meng expanded capacity by constructing new facilities.
Last month, New Hantong struck a deal with Egypt’s National Navigation Co for two kamsarmax bulker newbuildings for delivery in 2026.
The state-owned shipping company has ordered the pair as part of its fleet expansion.
In February, the Chinese shipbuilder made its debut in the VLCC segment when it was contracted by commodity giant Trafigura to build two newbuildings.
