After ordering more than a dozen bulkers at Chinese and Japanese shipyards, Densay Shipping unveiled on Tuesday its first contract for tankers.
The Tayfun Gunerhan-led company has ordered four firm and two optional 50,000-dwt MR tankers at Wuhu Shipyard in China.
No price details have emerged for the conventionally fuelled, scrubber-equipped ships that were inked earlier this year.
Densay’s decision to make a major play in the tanker sector with a string of newbuildings comes as part of a wider strategy that may see the company expand into other shipping segments.
Gunerhan told TradeWinds: “The decision to invest in tanker tonnage now is driven by market dynamics and long-term prospects in clean product transportation, which align perfectly with our strategic vision.”
He added: “We aim to build a sizeable modern fleet of clean product carriers, including LR2 vessels, as we believe demand for product tankers will remain strong in the foreseeable future.”
MR2s are probably just the start.
“In the next five years, Densay Group plans to operate a diversified fleet across all major segments of the shipping industry,” Gunerhan said.
The firm vessels are due for delivery between mid-2026 and early 2027 and the biggest part of their equipment will be of European origin, Gunerhan told TradeWinds.
The Wuhu newbuildings are not Densay’s only new tanker venture.
The company has also secured a bareboat charter for another MR newbuilding that is currently under construction at Imabari Shipbuilding and will be delivered in mid-2026.
Densay is widely known in the market for its sizeable bulker fleet of about 40 ultramaxes, supramaxes, handysizes and capesizes.
The company, however, dipped a toe in MR2s as well, with the purchase of two such vessels in the secondhand market five years ago.
The two ships — both named after peaks in the Swiss Alps — are still trading in the Densay fleet and are the 48,000-dwt T Matterhorn (built 2010) and the 52,600-dwt T Jungfrau (built 2009).
Gunerhan set up Densay in 1992, just seven years after starting his shipping career as a deck officer.
He is currently leading the company alongside his sons, Tan and Tuncel.
Densay has a history of about 20 bulker newbuilding orders since 2010 — more than half its active fleet.
Chinese yards like Wuhu Shipyard, New Dayang Shipbuilding, Jinling Shipyard and Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding & Offshore are not the only places where Densay likes to order tonnage.
Japan’s Imabari, Minaminippon Shipbuilding, Shimanami Shipyard and I-S Shipyard also feature prominently on its orderbook.
