Nisshin Shipping of Japan has quietly beefed up its growing fleet with handysize bulker newbuildings.
The low-profile shipowner is said to have at least a dozen 39,000-dwt bulkers under construction at Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering.
Officials at both the Chinese shipyard and the shipowner declined to comment.
A shipbuilding source familiar with Nisshin said the company began building ships at Jiangmen Nanyang in 2013.
“Jiangmen Nanyang has delivered more than 10 handysize bulkers to Nisshin,” the source said.
The source added that Nisshin ordered seven of the latest handysizes at Jiangmen Nanyang last year.
The price has not been disclosed, but the shipowner is scheduled to take delivery of three vessels this year, seven in 2020 and the remaining two in 2021.
Speculative strategy
Nisshin, which has a huge backlog of ultramax and kamsarmax newbuildings on order in China, is one of the few Japanese tonnage suppliers to have taken advantage of low shipbuilding prices by ordering ships on speculation.
It is said to have 19 ultramaxes on order at Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and up to 10 kamsarmaxes under construction at Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry. The newbuildings are due for delivery this year and up to 2021.
A shipping source close to Nisshin said the firm has fixed out most of the newbuildings, mainly to foreign shipping companies. The charterers' identities have not been disclosed, but Nisshin is known to be working with Cargill, Western Bulk and Ultrabulk.
Japanese orders
Nisshin also has orders in Japan, with an ultramax inked at Oshima Shipbuilding and a series of 19,000-dwt chemical tankers under construction at Usuki Shipyard. The company is said to have fixed out the tankers to Nordic Tankers and Chile's Ultranav.
Nisshin is Japan’s third-largest independent tonnage supplier behind Shoei Kisen and Nissen Shipping. It was founded by Y Fujii, who is now in his 80s and is still running the company.
According to VesselsValue, Nisshin has 59 trading vessels worth $1.25bn, including 33 bulkers.
