Reborn yard Hengli Heavy Industry (Hengli HI) has inked its first newbuilding contract with a company outside its home country of China.
The yard, formerly known as STX Dalian Shipbuilding before it returned to the shipbuilding market under new ownership last year, signed a contract with Laskaridis Maritime for four kamsarmax bulk carriers.
Executives with both Hengli HI and Thanassis Laskaridis-controlled Laskaridis Maritime confirmed the order of the 82,000-dwt ships.
The Chinese yard is scheduled to deliver the entire quartet within 2025.
“These ships will be scrubber-fitted and we have placed a substantial amount of extras to cater for future environmental developments,” Laskaridis Maritime said.
According to shipbuilding sources, the vessels will be built to a design by the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute to comply with the International Maritime Organization’s Tier III NOx standards and to meet Energy Efficiency Design Index Phase 3 greenhouse gas emissions.
Both Laskaridis Maritime and Hengli HI declined to disclose the price. Shipbuilding sources suggested they are costing between $33m and $34m apiece.
STX Dalian collapsed and stopped building ships in 2013.
Hengli HI took over the yard last summer, as part of a CNY 1.73bn ($256m) acquisition by Hengli’s parent of all former STX Dalian assets.
The purpose of the deal was to turn STX Dalian into an offshore manufacturing base and shipbuilding yard.
The project has caught clients’ attention.
‘Most modern facility in China’
Managers at Athens-based Laskaridis Maritime explained their rationale by saying that Hengli HI has been recently upgraded to become “the largest ... [and] the most modern facility in China”.
Two weeks ago, Hengli HI inked its first newbuilding contract from a third-party company when domestic shipping player Fortune Ocean Shipping signed up for four kamsarmax bulkers.
Prior to the Chinese order, the Dalian-based shipyard was constructing two 61,000-dwt and four 20,000-dwt bulk carriers for its parent company, Hengli Group.
Hengli HI is hungry to grow and wants to expand its product portfolio. To gain experience in building large container ships, it is helping South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries to build large hull blocks.
The shipyard will be using the SHI-developed “tera-block” method. The system will allow the South Korean shipyard to assemble a vessel with just two large hull blocks.
As for Laskaridis Maritime, its newbuilding order is part of a general expansion course that also includes the acquisition of three capesizes.
TradeWinds reported in January and March about market rumours linking Laskaridis Maritime to the acquisition of three GoodBulk ships — the 180,000-dwt Aquasalwador (built 2012), the 179,900-dwt Aquanavigator (built 2011) and the 178,900-dwt Aquamarie (built 2012).
Boosting the fleet
The three ships, which are believed to have changed hands for about $80m in total, are already joining the company’s fleet as Athens, Villars and Ereikoussa, respectively.
Laskaridis Maritime’s capesize purchases and kamsarmax orders are boosting its fleet to 20 ships, including six kamsarmaxes and seven ultramaxes built in 2022 or 2023.
The company began life after Laskaridis brothers Panos and Thanassis split their family interests about two years ago.
Panos Laskaridis took over the family’s existing fleet on the water, which consists of more than 50 bulkers, as well as more than 30 reefers and tankers. He heads Lavinia Bulk and its management arm Laskaridis Shipping.
Thanassis Laskaridis instead took over the family’s bulker newbuilding fleet under Laskaridis Maritime and the Alimia Group.
