China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has returned to Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC) for a tanker newbuilding.
The company has booked a single 115,000-dwt ship to be delivered in April 2024. It is paying $51.5m.
The contract follows the company's announcement on Friday that it has received approval from its board of directors to order no more than three aframax tankers at the state-owned shipyard.
CMES said the order will optimise the age profile its aframax tanker portfolio and allow the company to spread the risk of having a large VLCC fleet.
The company has 49 VLCCs as well as five aframax tankers that were built between 2008 and 2010, according to Clarksons.
CMES said the 115,000-dwt vessel booked at DSIC will meet the latest emission regulations.
DSIC is one of the shipyards that is favoured by CMES, with almost half of its existing tanker fleet built by the shipbuilder.
The last time the shipping company ordered newbuildings there was in 2019, when it signed up for six 307,000-dwt VLCCs worth nearly $501m.
The company took delivery of the first of the sextet, the New Era, in July and is slated to take delivery of the remaining five next year.
The CMES order is the first aframax crude tanker newbuilding at DSIC in over a decade. It last won orders for such tonnage in 2007, according to Clarksons.
However, DSIC has been building aframax product carriers and is currently building a series Maersk Tankers.
In May, DSIC also marked a returned to the containership sector when it received an order for six 16,000-teu newbuildings from China’s Minsheng Financial Leasing.
The Chinese leasing outfit was reported to have paid between $120m and $125m for each vessel and has ordered them against long-term charters from Mediterranean Shipping Co. They are scheduled to be delivered in late 2023 and 2024.
DSIC has not built any containerships since delivering a pair of 20,000-teu newbuildings to Cosco Shipping in 2018.
