Singapore-listed Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has landed an order for a series of feeder containerships from a Chinese shipowner.

Zhejiang Haigang Shipping has hired the shipbuilder to construct four 1,000-teu newbuildings at one of its three shipyards in Jiangsu, China. The vessels are to be delivered next year.

A shipping source with knowledge of the deal said the contract is worth a total of around $56m, as Zhejiang Haigang is paying close to CNY 100m ($14m) per ship. The deal does not include any optional vessels.

Yangzijiang has declined to comment on the boxship order, citing contract confidentiality.

Zhejiang Haigang is the shipping arm of Zhejiang Seaport Group & Ningbo Zhoushan Port Group.

Its order at Yangzijiang is the second contract for feeder containership newbuildings that the shipowner has placed so far this year.

In March, the company signed a contract with Yangfan Group to build four, 1,868-teu newbuildings worth close to $102m. Costing $25.5m per vessel, the quartet is slated for delivery between September 2021 and March 2022.

Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (Sdari), which is part of China State Shipbuilding Corp, designed the boxship newbuildings booked at both yards.

According to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network database, Zhejiang Haigang currently has just two Chinese-flagged bulkers in its fleet.

Earnings slump

The order is a welcome win for Yangzijiang, the largest privately-owned shipbuilder in China.

Earlier this month, Yangzijiang said its earnings and financial performance were directly affected by the lockdown ordered by the Chinese government in February and March to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The company reported that its net profit fell by 50.9% to CNY 404m ($57.2m) for the first quarter of 2020, which marked a slump from CNY 824m a year ago.

Revenue fell by 46.1% to CNY 3.39bn, which was down from CNY 6.29bn over the same period in 2019.

The group said revenue for core shipbuilding activities decreased to CNY 2.3bn — a 33% slump on the first quarter of 2019.

Twelve vessels were delivered in the latest quarter — down from 15 a year earlier. The ships accounted for a quarter of the outfit's delivery target for this year.

But the China-based shipbuilder has kept busy on the order front, securing more than a dozen newbuildings worth over $460m since January, including Zhejiang Haigang’s feeder boxships. The orders included five kamsarmax bulkers, a pair of 40,000-dwt bulkers and two 14,000-teu containerships.

Yangzijiang’s orderbook is worth more than $2.9bn, and its total of more than 70 newbuildings will keep it busy until late 2021.