Container ship and bulker owner Cape Shipping is said to be expanding its fleet with tanker newbuildings.
Shipping sources say the Greek shipping company has ordered two 74,000-dwt LR1s at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and two 115,000-dwt LR2s at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co, known as DSIC.
The deal comes after Cape returned to tankers late last year, having exited a decade earlier.
The Andrianopoulos family-controlled shipowner is forking out $75m each for the LR2s and close to $55m apiece for the LR1s, they added.
Industry sources said Cape is scheduled to take delivery of the LR2s in the first half of 2026 and the LR1s in the second half of 2027.
Officials at DSIC and Yangzijiang declined to comment on their newbuilding activities, citing contract confidentiality. Cape did not respond to a request for comment.
Cape’s fleet comprises five bulkers and 11 container ships.
Cape says it has previously managed VLCCs but is believed to have avoided the business for over 12 years.
It revived its presence in the tanker segment in December 2023 by ordering two LR2s at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding for a reported price of about $66m each.
Two months later, it added two 158,000-dwt suezmaxes at a reported cost of $84m apiece.
The deals bring the company’s total spend on new tankers at the Shanghai-based yard to $300m.
SWS is slated to deliver the 115,000-dwt product carriers in September 2025 and January 2026. The larger crude carriers are scheduled for delivery between late 2026 and the first quarter of 2027.
Shipbuilding players said the eight tanker newbuildings that Cape has ordered will be powered by conventional marine fuel. The LR2s and the suezmaxes will be fitted with scrubbers.
Cape’s history stretches back to the 19th century when its principals’ ancestors were ship masters and owners on the Aegean island of Kasos.
Activities were centralised in Athens when Cape was founded in the Greek capital in 1987.
In 1960, the company set up Tropis Shipping as its shipbroker in London.
