Vietnam’s Asia Pacific Shipping (ASP) has added midsize LPG carriers to its growing orderbook.
The Hanoi-based shipowner has contracted China’s Jiangnan Shipyard to build two 50,500-cbm LPG/liquid ammonia carriers.
It is the first gas carrier newbuilding contract that ASP has signed since it was founded in 2021.
The company has been active in the shipbuilding market since early this year. The 12 newbuildings it has ordered, including the pair at Jiangnan, are calculated to be worth close to $900m.
Confirming the order, Jiangnan Shipyard said the contract is important, as it wants to develop its shipbuilding presence in the South East Asian market.
It did not disclose the price of ASP’s gas ships but one broker suggested they will cost about $102m each.
Shipbuilding sources said delivery is scheduled for 2027.
Officials at ASP were not available for comment.
The design of the two midsize gas carriers (MGCs) ordered by ASP was developed by Jiangnan. The tanks will be able to carry a wide range of petrochemical products, such as LPG, anhydrous ammonia, propylene, butadiene and vinyl chloride monomer.
ASP is the second company to have ordered MGCs at Jiangnan this month.
Last week, US-listed Navigator Gas disclosed that it has contracted two ethane dual-fuel LPG carriers there for delivery in March and July 2027.
Navigator was reported to have ordered them on speculation, as it said it intended to fix them prior to delivery.
The company said the newbuilding price is $102.9m each.
ASP is backed by shipowner Nguyen Quynh Anh. Its website shows that it controls a diverse fleet of 20 vessels, of which 18 are owned. The fleet comprises chemical tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and general cargo vessels.
But Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network lists ASP with a fleet of 27 ships, including a VLCC, the 297,600-dwt Symphony (ex-Nave Spherical, built 2009), and a post-panamax bulker, the 105,000-dwt Fiona (ex-FPMC B 102, built 2011).
It is scheduled to take delivery of three LR2s from Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co; two MR tankers each from HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, K Shipbuilding and Guangzhou Shipyard International; and two 26,000-dwt chemical tankers each from Wuhu Shipyard and Wuchang Shipbuilding.
