Japan’s Santoku Senpaku has returned to Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) in China for more capesizes.
Shipbuilding players said the Japanese tonnage provider is poised to sign up for two wide-beam, 186,000-dwt newbuildings for delivery in 2020.
The order will double Santoku’s newbuildings at SWS to four after it ordered a pair of capesize bulkers last year. They are slated for delivery in December and February next year.
The price tag for the latest order has not been disclosed. But Santoku’s earlier two vessels, which will be built to the IMO’s Tier III emissions standards, were reported to have cost more than $45m each.
Shipbuilding experts believe Santoku will be paying more for its latest newbuildings, as shipbuilding prices have shot up by more than 15% due to the hefty increase in steel-plate costs, and reputable shipyards have become more comfortable with their order backlogs. They added that current newbuilding prices for standard Tier III capesize bulkers stand at between $53m and $54m.
In an email to TradeWinds, Santoku said it is not in a position to disclose its newbuilding activities due to contract confidentiality. Officials at SWS were not available for comment as China is closed for holiday this week.
Santoku also has four kamsarmax bulkers under construction at Sino-Japanese shipyard Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering for delivery in 2019 and 2020.
Only just reported
Orders for these 82,000-dwt newbuildings were said to have been placed a few months ago but the deal was never reported. It is not known whether the ships are Tier II or Tier III compliant.
Privately owned Santoku is a pure tonnage provider. It owns and manages close to 100 vessels, of which 60 are owned. The vessels it controls range from small cargo carriers to capesizes, car carriers, woodchip vessels, containerships, reefers and chemical tankers.
The Osaka-based company’s domestic clients include MOL, NYK Line, K Line and NS United Kaiun Kaisha. Odfjell, AET, Cobelfret, Louis Dreyfus and Cosco are among its non-Japanese customers.
According to VesselsValue, Santoku is also active in the secondhand market. It acquired a pair of reefer ships in April — the 11,000-dwt Benguela Stream and Klipper Stream (both built in 1998) for $4.5m each. On the sales front, it sold two reefers, one sub-panamax containership and a handysize bulker.
