Chinese bulker company Amoysailing is ramping up its fleet by splashing out close to $240m on newbuildings and secondhand vessels.
The Xiamen-based shipping company has struck a deal with Jiangsu Haitong Offshore Engineering Equipment for four firm 64,000-dwt bulker newbuildings.
A shipbuilding source confirmed Amoysailing’s order at Jiangsu Haitong. He said the shipyard is scheduled to deliver the quartet in 2026.
The price was not disclosed, but shipbuilding sources estimate the vessels at $32m to $34m each. They are designed by the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute and will run on conventional marine fuel.
The bulkers will meet the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index Phase 3 requirements and the International Maritime Organization’s latest NOx Tier III rules.
Four secondhand vessels
Amoysailing has also tapped the sale-and-purchase market to expand its fleet.
According to VesselsValue, the company bought four secondhand bulk carriers – two supramaxes, one ultramax and a panamax.
Two were acquired through online auctions, an increasingly popular method among Chinese shipowners for buying and selling vessels. They were the 61,400-dwt Great Spring (built 2017) and 81,700-dwt BBG Qinzhou (built 2019).
The Dalian Cosco-built Great Spring was originally owned by Hong Kong Ming Wah Shipping. Amoysailing bid $27.8m for the ship, which it has renamed Amoy Century.
The five-year-old BBG Qinzhou was previously owned by China Development Bank Financial Leasing. Amoysailing acquired the ship for $30.6m in June and has renamed it Amoy Power.
Amoysailing’s two secondhand supramax bulk carriers are the Japanese-built 57,600-dwt Amoy Action (ex-Nord Seal, built 2016) and 55,400-dwt Sea Hunter (ex-Tai Hunter, built 2007).
The Chinese company acquired the Amoy Action from Japan’s Okino Kaiun in April for $28.3m and paid $14.6m to Taiwan Navigation for the Oshima-built Sea Hunter.
Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence shows Amoysailing as having a fleet of 12 bulk carriers — seven supramaxes, two ultramaxes and three panamaxes.
Jiangsu Haitong is a privately owned shipyard located in Nantong. It has contracted over 30 bulker carrier newbuildings in the last 18 months.
Shipping companies that have ordered newbuildings there include Fujian Guohan Shipping, Uthalden, Vanhui Shipping and Taiwanese owners Franbo Lines and Ta Ho Maritime.
