CSSC Leasing has booked a pair of Cargill-backed mini-capesize bulkers at affiliate Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard.
The leasing arm of shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) ordered the 120,000-dwt baby capes on the back of 12-year charters from Cargill Ocean Transportation, the shipping wing of the US agricultural giant.
Shipbuilding sources familiar with the deal said it brings the total number of 120,000-dwt bulkers ordered by CSSC Leasing at Wenchong to six.
The ships will all be delivered by 2020. The bulkers are said to be costing between $36m and $37m each.
A source said the orders represent options that CSSC Leasing held at the yard after it signed for four baby capesizes earlier this year.
Hong Kong’s Wah Kwong Maritime Transport is to oversee the technical management and crewing of the ships.
Charter confirmed
Cargill confirmed it had exercised an option to charter the baby capes, but declined to detail the length of the time charter.
The vessels are likely to be used to ship coal and grain.
In May, there were reports that Cargill was in talks with China Development Bank Financial Leasing to charter six mini-capesize bulker newbuildings.
However, shipbuilding sources said those discussions came to nothing.
“Cargill will only be chartering CSSC Leasing’s newbuildings,” one source said.
Cargill operates 650 chartered-in vessels.
Its newbuilding moves come as the company is targeting a 15% cut in carbon emissions across its bulker fleet by 2020. It is urging shipowners to fit scrubbers on their vessels and explore the use of LNG and biofuels.
