Shipowner AET has taken delivery of 2024’s lone VLCC newbuilding with a christening ceremony held in Singapore.
The 300,000-dwt newbuilding Eagle Veracruz is one of a series of LNG dual-fuelled VLCCs built at Hanwha Ocean and fixed on charter to energy major Shell.
The vessel was officially launched by Minister of Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on 23 January at PSA Keppel Terminal in Tanjong Pagar.
The newbuilding boasts an optimised hull form to reduce drag, an enhanced rudder design to improve manoeuvrability, along with a wake duct to improve propeller efficiency.
Its main engine is built on a modular concept to enable further modifications on methane slip reduction and future retrofit options to run on low- & net-zero fuels.
Eagle Veracruz is listed as priced at around $100m when it was contracted in 2021 which compares to current VLCC newbuilding pricing of about $128m.
At the time Shell was reported to be paying around $31,000 per day for 10 VLCC newbuilding it was taking on charter from three different shipowners.
The 330-metre-long Eagle Veracruz — which helped push the Singapore Registry of Ships (SRS) over its 100m gross tonnage milestone — is being named as the sole VLCC newbuilding delivery for 2024.
Flagging up this startling anomaly, pool player Tanker’s International said this month that since 2000 VLCC newbuilding deliveries have averaged around 39 vessels per year.
But since the start of this year there has been a stream of VLCC newbuilding orders and slot reservations from several big-name players including John Fredriksen, Evangelos Marinakis and Maria Angelicoussis with others also said to be eyeing up berths.
