Saudi Arabian shipping giant Bahri is reportedly in contact with two shipyards in the Far East to build up to 10 MR product tankers.
Shipping sources said Bahri has asked South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) and China’s New Times Shipbuilding to submit proposals for the series of 50,000-dwt vessels as it renews and expands its fleet.
It is placing firm orders for half-a-dozen high-spec ships, with four options.
According to a shipbuilding source, Bahri showed interest in the newbuildings early last year. But it was only in the autumn that “it stepped up on the newbuildings enquiries, and it is only in contact with HMD and New Times for the ships”.
Officials at both yards declined to comment.
A shipbuilding broker put the current price of an MR tanker newbuilding at less than $35m.
“The enquiries for tanker newbuildings is very little because of coronavirus,” he said. “Many shipping companies are adopting the wait-and-see attitude, as the outlook of the global economy is very uncertain.”
Bahri owns around 30 chemical and product carriers, managed and operated by its subsidiary, Bahri Chemicals. The fleet includes IMO Tier II and Tier III MR chemical tankers of 46,000 dwt and IMO Tier II and Tier III product carriers of 50,000 dwt.
It also owns a single LR2 — the 81,300-dwt NCC Fajr (built 2013) — and a trio of 37,000-dwt stainless-steel chemical tankers.
Bahri Chemicals is based in Dubai and its clients include Saudi Aramco, Sabic, Vitol, Trafigura, Shell, Unipec and PetroChina.
In 2016, Bahri splashed out $166.5m on acquiring five 2014-built secondhand 49,900-dwt MR tankers from Scorpio Tankers for $33.3m each: the NCC Masa (ex-STI Chelsea), NCC Wafa (ex-STI Lexington), NCC Jood (ex-STI Mythos), NCC Ghazal (ex-STI Olivia) and NCC Bader (ex-STI Powai). The US-flagged quintet is built by HMD.
Bahri cleared out two handysize chemical tankers in January when it sold the 37,300-dwt NCC Riyad (built 1995) for $724 per ldt and 37,500-dwt NCC Jubail (built 1996) for $835 per ldt, both to India.
Joint venture
Bahri ordered one 320,000-dwt VLCC at domestic shipbuilder International Maritime Industries last summer. It is sub-contracted to Hyundai Heavy Industries to be built, for delivery in 2021.
International Maritime Industries, established in 2017, is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco, Lamprell, Bahri and HHI.
Bahri subsidiary Bahri Dry Bulk is due to take delivery of four 81,000-dwt kamsarmax bulker newbuildings that were ordered in 2017 at a reported price of $30m apiece.
