China’s Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding is said to have sold three tanker newbuildings that were ordered by embattled Xihe Group.

Sale-and-purchase sources said Mawei has sold two 13,800-dwt chemical tanker newbuildings, built to the International Maritime Organization’s Tier II chemical handling standards, to low-profile Chinese owner ChangShengFa Shipping.

The shipbuilder also sold a 23,500-dwt product carrier newbuilding to a European buyer, the sources said.

The resales come as Xihe Group’s Xihe Holdings and other companies linked to the Lim family are at the centre of continued restructuring proceedings in Singapore, which has also affected Hin Leong Trading and ship-operating affiliate Ocean Tankers.

Xiamen-based ChangShengFa is said to have paid $12m each for the two chemical tankers, identified as Hull No 511-3 and Hull No 511-4.

Sources added that Mawei has completed building the pair, and the new owner can take delivery of them any time.

As for the product tanker newbuilding, the identity of the buyer has not been disclosed, but sources believe a Greek company is behind the deal. Identified as Hull No 513-3, it is said to have fetched around $25m.

Officials at Mawei and ChangShengFa could not be reached for comment, while Xihe Group did not respond to TradeWinds’ email request for comment.

One shipbuilding source said the three Xihe newbuildings sold by Mawei were part of a series ordered between the end of 2017 and early 2019.

In that period, the Singa­porean company ordered 20 vessels — 14 product carriers and six chemical tankers. The total value of the newbuildings was estimated to be $442m, with the product tankers reportedly costing $26m apiece and the chemical tankers $13m each.

'Missed deadlines'

The three tankers at Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding were inked between late 2017 and early 2019. Photo: TradeWinds

“Mawei is forced to sell Xihe’s newbuildings since the owner has missed the deadlines in putting down subsequent payment instalments,” the shipbuilding source said. “We think Xihe Group may not be able to get back the money that it paid to the shipyard.”

Last month, Xihe announced a split with oil trader Lim Oon Kuin, owner of collapsed Hin Leong and Ocean Tankers, as it opened “consensual” talks with its main lenders in a corporate restructuring.

The group said Lim and his children are no longer part of the management team.

Xihe controls a fleet of 140 tankers. The group has formed a new independent Xihe Holdings management board, “which has more than 100 years’ collective sea and shoreside shipping company management experience between them”.

As part of the restructuring, Xihe Group has cancelled a number of its charter agreements with Hin Leong and its main bareboat charterer, Ocean Tankers.

Xihe said it has secured redelivery of some of its vessels from ­Ocean Tankers, including the 108,953-dwt Ocean Queen (built 2008). It is awaiting further redeliveries.

Maersk Tankers’ pool

Several shipping sources familiar with Xihe said it is working to appoint V.Group and Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement to handle technical management of 31 vessels, comprising LR and MR product tankers.

These tankers will also join Maersk Tankers’ pool.

Xihe is not new to the Danish tanker operator. The company’s VLCCs were in the Nova Tankers pool formed by Maersk Tankers and Mitsui OSK Lines starting in 2012. Twelve Xihe vessels were in the pool before Nova Tankers was disbanded in 2014.

Meanwhile, S&P brokers said Xihe has put one of its MR tankers, the 50,400-dwt Ocean Stellar (built 2005), up for sale on the secondhand market.