Pantheon Tankers Management has exercised an option for an aframax as it boosts its orderbook in China.
A market source said Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) will build the 114,000-dwt crude carrier.
Pantheon was said to be paying $45m apiece for the aframaxes. It has three similar-sized newbuildings listed on its website, with delivery from SWS in 2021. The ships are to be built to the IMO’s Tier III standards.
The vessels at SWS are believed to be replacing two 114,000-dwt crude carriers ordered by Pantheon at Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines in 2017.
Those ships were never built, as the South Korean-owned shipyard filed for court rehabilitation early last year after defaulting on $400m in loans. Shipyard workers were sent home and production was stopped.
Change in strategy
The original SWS order marked a change in strategy for Pantheon. According to databases, it had previously ordered or purchased only ships built at South Korean or Japanese-controlled yards.
Its comfort with Chinese shipbuilding has increased: it has also ordered a suezmax tanker at New Times Shipbuilding with options that will allow it to book two more.
For SWS, which is part of China State Shipbuilding Corp, the Pantheon aframax adds to an orderbook of 48 ships totalling nearly 8.5m dwt, according to Clarksons.
Mostly made up of bulkers, the orders include 13 tankers, three floating production, storage and offloading units and two cruiseships.
Harry Papachristou and Eric Martin contributed to this story
