Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group (YZJ Group) is making a push into the tanker sector by building four MR product carriers for its shipowning arm.
Chairman Ren Yuanlin confirmed that Yangzijiang Shipping, the shipowning division of the Chinese shipbuilder, has commissioned the Jiangsu yard to build the 50,000-dwt quartet.
“Yangzijiang Shipping has the financial resources to order the newbuildings and the vessels are backed up by charter contracts,” he said.
Ren declined to disclose the identity of the charterers or the cost of building the product tankers but said the first vessel is scheduled to be delivered in late 2020.
“YZJ wants to strengthen its reputation further in constructing tankers, and these newbuildings will help in some way,” he said, adding that his company had joined forces with Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute to design the tankers.
Gas carriers
Listed in Singapore, YZJ is widely known for building containerships and bulkers. Two years ago, it delivered its first gas carriers. The 27,500-cbm LNG/ethane multigas carriers JS Ineos Invention and JS Ineos Intuition (both built 2017) were ordered by Evergas.
To gain experience in constructing tankers, YZJ acquired a half-built suezmax from Chinese shipbuilder Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries for $10m in 2017. Rongsheng stopped work on the ship because it was suffering financial problems.
The 157,000-dwt crude carrier had been ordered by John Fredriksen’s Frontline 2012 nine years ago.
According to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network, YZJ is scheduled to deliver the suezmax, to be named Front Ran, in August. The yard was reported to have sold the tanker to Delta Tankers for about $49.5m.
YZJ, one of the more active yards in China, is seeking to diversify and enhance its shipbuilding activities.
It entered a joint partnership with Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co to form a Panama-registered shipping company.
The yard hopes to tap Mitsui’s extensive shipping experience and gain access to worldwide shipowning companies and charterers. It is also looking to work with the trading house on value-added vessels, such as LNG carriers and LNG-fuelled vessels, in the near future.
YZJ forecasts that the shipbuilding lull will continue due to global trade tensions and the pending IMO 2020 emissions regulations, which will result in shipowners taking a more restrained approach to newbuildings.
