Jaldhi Overseas in Singapore has returned to China’s Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui Shipbuilding (Yangzi-Mitsui) for newbuildings.

The Singapore-based shipping company which currently owns a single tanker — the 19,805-dwt Jal Siddhi (built 2006) has commissioned Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and Japan’s Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, a joint venture yard, to build four 50,000-dwt MR tankers.

Jaldhi’s president and CEO Suresh Kumar confirmed the tanker contract at Yangzi-Mitsui.

He said his company used to have a fleet of six MR tankers but they were sold in the last two years. It is currently left with one chemical tanker.

Jaldhi’s order gave Yangzi-Mitsui its first MR tanker deal.

The shipyard focuses on constructing mid-size bulk carriers.

Online VesselsValue shows Yangzi-Mitsui has an orderbook of 21 bulker newbuildings and five LPG carriers three 40,000-cbm and two 36,000-cbm.

The shipbuilding price of Jaldhi’s MR tankers was not disclosed but brokers suggest a price of $40.5m per ship.

The design of the 50,000-dwt product tanker is said to be developed by Econovo Marine Engineering — an in-house design company of Yangzijiang.

Yangzi-Mitsui is scheduled to deliver the quartet between the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026.

Jaldhi’s latest order spree lifts the company’s total spending on newbuildings at Yangzi-Mitsui in six months to about $302m.

In September, the company contracted the shipyard to build four wide-body, shallow-draught 66,000-dwt bulker newbuildings.

The quartet is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2024.

Kumar said the ultramax bulk carriers would also form part of his company’s fleet-renewal and expansion plans.

Jaldhi is the shipping arm of Bothra Group in India.

It was established in 2004 and controls around 25 ships including five owned vessels.

The company is predominantly a bulker player, with a focus on ships between 64,000 dwt and 86,000 dwt.

Bothra Group operates five terminals, including one for coal imports in Paradip.

It is involved in freight forwarding and is a logistics service provider for containerised cargo.

Yangzi-Mitsui was incorporated in 2019 with a registered capital of $99.9m.

The set-up of the joint venture allows Yangzijiang to secure more orders from Japanese shipping companies through Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co.

In December, Yangzijiang was reported to have contracted four neo-panamax container ship newbuildings from Lepta Shipping — a joint company between Japanese shipowner Nissen Kaiun and Mitsui & Co.

The conventional fuel boxships was reported to cost around $100m each are scheduled to be delivered from 2025.