Japanese tonnage supplier Nissen Kaiun has returned to Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) for a series of product carrier newbuildings.
If all options are exercised, the deal could be worth $140m and represent a significant expansion of the Imabari-headquartered shipowner's MR tanker profile.
Shipbuilding market sources said the company has signed up for two 50,000-dwt newbuildings, with options for another pair.
Nissen is said to be paying around $35m each for the product carriers and is scheduled to take delivery of the two firm ships in March and June 2022.
A shipbuilding source said Nissen has booked the MR tanker newbuildings against charter contracts. However, the identity of the charterer has not been disclosed.
Officials at HMD declined to talk when asked by TradeWinds, while Nissen does not comment on market reports.
This latest deal adds to the company's six existing MR tankers in this size range.
Nissen will also soon be taking delivery of a 50,000-dwt product carrier from Onomichi Dockyard. The tanker — to be named Ayoe — is fixed to US energy giant Chevron.
The Japanese shipowner has six modern Japanese-built MR tankers on the water. Four of them are said to be chartered to Singapore’s BW Tankers on a long-term basis.
“This is the first time that it [Nissen] has contracted Mipo to build MR tankers,” a shipbuilding source said. “Its previous order at the shipyard was for feeder containerships in 2018.”
According to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network database, Nissen has 19 other newbuildings on order at shipyards in the Far East. These comprise four VLGCs, 10 open-hatch bulkers of 40,000 dwt each, four 800-teu feeder boxships and one reefer.
Katsuyo Abe-led Nissen, which is headquartered on Hakata Island on the outskirts of Imabari, is said to have close ties with Mitsui & Co, and most of its newbuildings are reported to have been arranged through the trading house.
Nissen is the second-largest shipowner in Japan with a diversified fleet of 150 trading vessels, of which six are VLGCs.
The latest Nissen order adds to a global orderbook of MR tankers totalling 135, of which 57 will be built by HMD.
Other shipping companies that have newbuildings on order at the South Korean yard include Bahri, Benelux Overseas, Pan Ocean and E4C Shipping.
