Just a week after spending $43.5m on a secondhand ship, d’Amico International Shipping (DIS) is committing a further $110.8m to order its first newbuildings since 2015.
The Milan-listed product tanker player announced on Wednesday that it has signed a contract to build a pair of 75,000-dwt LR1 vessels at Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding.
The Chinese yard is expected to deliver them in September and November of 2027 respectively.
“I am delighted to announce the agreement to build these two ‘eco’ product tanker vessels, which should be the most efficient and environmentally friendly LR1 vessels in our fleet,” DIS chief executive officer Paolo d’Amico said.
“This deal is aligned with our strategic objective of controlling a very modern fleet,” he added.
D’Amico had explained in similar terms the company’s decision on 17 April to buy the 50,100-dwt MR2 Amfitrion (built 2017) from Evangelos Marinakis’ Capital Maritime & Trading.
An additional reason to ink the newbuildings was a desire to boost DIS’ presence in the LR1 market.
“The product tanker orderbook is still rather low, in particular for this size vessels,” d’Amico said.
According to latest Clarksons figures, the orderbook for panamax tankers between 55,000 dwt and 85,000 dwt is at 7.9% of the active fleet in terms of tonnage, compared with 9% for the overall tanker fleet above 10,000 dwt.
D’Amico also cited the ongoing growth of tonne-mile demand for LR1s, driven by “secular dislocation of world refining capacity away from some key consuming regions”.
DIS currently manages six LR1 vessels, amid an owned and managed fleet of 34 product tankers with an average age of about 8.8 years.
The Milan-listed shipowner is in a good financial position to engage in acquisitions, following record annual net income of $192.2m last year.
It boosted its coffers by a further $20.5m cash following the $27.4m sale last month of its oldest ship — the 47,200-dwt Glenda Melanie (built 2010).
DIS also has the option to grow through attractively priced purchase options on seven ships it already operates.
