Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu Ship Industry has joined the MR tanker bandwagon with orders from Raffles Shipping.

The Chinese shipyard disclosed that it has secured an order for two 50,000-dwt product/chemical tanker newbuildings from the Singapore shipowner.

Contract signing took place last week at the shipyard.

The price was not disclosed, although shipbuilding players familiar with the deal said the newbuildings are IMO type 2 chemical tankers and suggested they will cost less than $33m each.

Officials at Raffles and Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu were not available for comment.

The Shandong yard is better known for building bulkers up to kamsarmax size. However, it has previously delivered four small chemical tankers of less than 8,000 dwt.

Raffles has ordered newbuildings at Chinese shipyards in the past, but this is the first time it has worked with Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu.

Raffles' last order was two years ago, when it signed contracts with Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group to build up to six 19,700-dwt, IMO type 2 product/chemical tankers.

The deal was for two firm vessels plus two sets of two optional ships. It appears Raffles has exercised the first set of options, bringing to four the total number of newbuildings on order.

According to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network, Wuchang is scheduled to deliver three vessels this year and one in early 2021.

Although Raffles is closely linked to Singapore-listed commodities trader Wilmar International, it has a separate ownership structure and fleet.

VesselsValue shows Raffles with 57 ships — 20 bulkers and 37 tankers — while Wilmar has 35 ships, 31 of which are tankers.

In January, Wilmar contracted South Korea’s Dae Sun Shipbuilding & Engineering for two 50,000-dwt MR tankers for delivery in mid-2021. The deal included two options that it has yet to exercise.

The Singaporean owner was reported to be paying between $33m and $34m each for the vessels, which will be built to IMO Tier II emissions standards.

Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu was established in 2006 during the shipbuilding boom. Initially privately owned, it turned state-owned last year when Qingdao Military-Civilian Integration Development Group bought into the company.