Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation (CSET), one of the world’s largest tanker owners, has ordered two product tankers from an affiliated yard for a price below the normal market level.
In a regulatory filing, Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed CSET said it signed up for two 49,000-dwt vessels at Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry’s Dalian yard for a total of $67.8m. The ships will be delivered in the second half of 2021.
Both CSET and Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry are controlled by state conglomerate China Cosco Shipping, the largest Chinese shipping group by the size of maritime assets.
The Dalian facility has limited experience in building oil tankers, possibly explaining why the price tag is lower than those seen in recent MR newbuilding deals in China.
Earlier this month, Shandong Shipping ordered eight 50,000-dwt tankers at New Times Shipbuilding for $37m apiece.
Clarksons recently assessed the newbuilding costs for a MR at $36.5m.
“The newbuildings will be able to enhance the competitiveness of our oil tanker fleet and meet the cargo shipping demand of our strategic clients,” CSET said in the filing, without elaborating.
Before the latest deal, CSET had an orderbook of six VLCCs, three suezmaxes, three aframaxes, two panamaxes and two LR2s.
In the first half of this year, CSET’s revenues rose 40.2% year-on-year to CNY 7.06bn ($985m), mainly due to higher freight earnings of its oil tanker and LNG fleets. Net profits amounted to CNY470m compared with the year-ago losses of CNY 239m.
