Taiwanese bulker owner Wisdom Marine is moving into LPG shipping after securing a new order in Japan.
The company said in a filing that it has contracted a 5,000-cbm LPG carrier at Murakami Hide Shipbuilding.
No delivery date was given, but the company said the ship was costing up to ¥1.88bn ($18m).
Wisdom Marine has a fleet of 138 operational vessels, with just two boxships among its bulkers.
Another 17 dry cargo ships are on order.
In the summer, the shipowner said it was adding to its vessel acquisition war chest through a $63.8m private placement of new stock.
In May, it had raised $13.3m by selling new shares to fund its orderbook as it stayed on track with its expansion plans.
Fleet expanding
The company said then that it was due to take delivery of a handysize, a supramax and a post-panamax bulker in the second half of this year.
Wisdom Marine will also take over seven handysizes, one supramax and four post-panamax bulker newbuildings in 2021.
The world’s second-largest handysize bulker owner has been renowned for its resilient financial performance over the past decade.
Since going public on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2010, Wisdom Marine has never made a yearly loss.
But the company dipped into a net loss of TWD 127m ($4.43m) in the first quarter of this year, compared to a profit of TWD 410m during the same period of 2019.
With low freight earnings, revenue fell to TWD 2.79bn from TWD 3.4bn.
