China’s Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry has secured an order from Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) for up to four newcastlemax bulker newbuildings worth $244m.
The state-owned shipyard has been contracted by the Belgian owner to construct the 210,000-dwt newbuildings in what the shipowner regards as “an opportunistic order”, Benoit Timmermans, chief commercial officer of CMB’s dry division Bocimar, confirmed.
The deal is for two firm vessels plus options for a pair of additional vessels.
“At this point in the cycle, we think it’s interesting," Timmermans said. "We looked at the orderbook for 2022 and 2023 and the fundamentals look good for dry bulk, at least for the next couple of years.”
Fleet renewal
The order was also part of the Antwerp-based company's renewal of its dry bulk fleet.
“We have reduced our fleet already substantially,” Timmermans said. “We have sold a lot of the older units — some of which have been taken back on bareboat — but those will be redelivered in the coming months and years,” Timmermans said.
A shipyard executive confirmed the newbuilding deal but declined to disclose the name of the buyer, citing contract confidentiality.
On 15 July, TradeWinds reported that Bocimar was understood to be close to signing up for two 210,000-dwt bulkers at Qingdao Beihai for delivery in 2023.
No price has been disclosed for the newcastlemaxes, but brokers believe they will cost between $60m and $61m each.
The ships will run on conventional marine fuels and will be built to comply with Phase 2 of the International Maritime Organization's Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) standards and Tier III NOx standards.
Third order this year
The four-ship order is the third newcastlemax newbuilding contract for Qingdao Beihai this year.
Taiwan’s Chinese Maritime Transport (CMT) and U-Ming Marine Transport booked the previous two contracts.
CMT ordered two vessels, while U-Ming signed up for four.
Both owners have ordered the newbuildings as part of their fleet-expansion programmes.
Qingdao Beihai is known as a bulker shipbuilding specialist. But in April, the China State Shipbuilding Co-controlled shipyard made its debut in containerships when it secured an order for 10 newbuildings of 5,500 teu each from France’s CMA CGM.
The vessel project being discussed was dubbed “Project Slade”.
Design was carried out by Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute. The panamax boxships, with a 40-metre beam, will be equipped with about 800 reefer plugs and will use WinGD’s main engine.
CMA CGM was reported to be paying about $63m each for the panamaxes. Qingdao Beihai is slated to deliver three vessels in 2023 and the remaining seven in 2024.
