Carsten Mortensen’s Dee4 Capital Partners has upped its orderbook of MR tankers at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD).
Clients of the firm have signed up for three more 50,000-dwt product carrier newbuildings at HMD, bringing the order tally there to five.
The deal means Dee4 and its partners have an orderbook worth around $175m at the South Korean shipyard.
The latest trio are scheduled for delivery during the first half of 2022.
Market sources said two of the newbuildings were booked by exercising options held after a previous order by Dee4 joint venture E4C for two MR tankers.
E4C is a joint venture of Dee4 with footwear-maker ECCO and trader Gunvor Group. The company was formed in July 2020.
The product carriers are said to be costing $34m and $35m per vessel. E4C is scheduled to take delivery of two newbuildings in the final quarter of this year.
Mortensen confirmed the deal for the latest three MR tankers, adding that the newbuildings were “ordered by other clients of the company”.
The shipping veteran added that the financing for the trio has been arranged but not through Mizuho Marubeni Leasing Co, the leasing house that financed the E4C newbuildings.
Asked if Dee4’s fleet will further expand through newbuildings or secondhand vessels, Cartensen said the company invests “where we see the best value for our investors”.
Dee4 is a Danish private equity firm launched by Mortensen and fellow dealmaker Freddie Lee in 2019. The firm focuses on maritime-related investments. Its investors are mostly from Denmark.
Dee4 owns a fleet of six Japanese-built MR tankers. Three of the vessels are chartered to trader Gunvor, two to Norden, with one operating in the Hafnia pool.
HMD, one of the three South Korean shipyards under the umbrella of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, has achieved slightly more than 35% of its new order target of $3.5bn for 2021.
Shipping companies that have signed up with the Ulsan-based shipyard this year include Italy’s Grimaldi Group, which booked six hybrid ro-ro containerships worth $500m, as well as Greece’s Evalend Shipping, Thenamaris and Brave Maritime.
This story has been amended since publication to reflect that clients of Dee4 ordered the latest three MR tankers.
