Evalend Shipping of Greece has increased its huge orderbook with LR1 tanker newbuildings.
Shipbuilding sources said the Kriton Lendoudis-led company has returned to China’s Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and ordered two conventionally fuelled, 75,000-dwt product carriers.
The latest newbuildings lift the total number of LR1 tankers that the Greek owner has on order at the Chinese shipyard to six. It previously ordered four ships in June.
The price of Evalend’s latest two newbuildings was not disclosed. But brokers believed the company is paying more than $50m each for the Marine Design & Research Institute of China-designed tankers.
Shipbuilding players tracking Yangzijiang’s orderbooks said the yard is scheduled to deliver Evalend’s No 5 and No 6 LR1 newbuildings during the second quarter of 2026 and the owner’s earlier quartet newbuildings between the second half of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.
Evalend also has six conventionally fuelled MR tankers and four open-hatch handysize bulk carriers booked at Yangzijiang. They were ordered at the end of 2022 and early this year.
Evalend was reported to be paying between $29m and $30m for each of the 40,000-dwt bulkers, with delivery scheduled in the first half of 2025.
As for the 50,000-dwt product tankers, they were reported to cost around $40m apiece. Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui Shipbuilding (Yamic) — Yangzijiang’s joint venture yard with Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co — will be constructing the MR tankers. It is slated to hand over the product carriers in 2025.
Early this month, Evalend was reported to have made its debut into the LNG carrier segment with an order of two 174,000-cbm newbuildings at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).
The company was reported to be paying close to $260m per vessel. Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network shows HHI will be delivering the pair of LNG carriers in August and November 2027.
Evalend also has two dual-fuelled 91,000-cbm VLGCs at Hyundai Samho and seven 88,000-cbm VLGCs at HHI. These gas carriers are slated to be delivered between October this year and early 2026.
Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries — HHI’s sister shipyard — is building two conventionally fuelled suezmax tankers for the company to be handed over in February and May 2025.
A diversified shipping company, Evalend currently does not own suezmax tankers.
Officials at Yangzijiang declined to comment on the shipyard’s newbuilding activities when contacted, citing contract confidentiality, while Evalend did not respond to emails seeking confirmation.
