Evalend Shipping is making a surprise move in the newbuilding market.
The company, which recently debuted in the MR segment, has now added suezmaxes to its fleet portfolio.
This is a ship type in which highly diversified Evalend owner Kriton Lendoudis is not currently invested.
Shipbuilding sources and brokers said the Athens-based company has commissioned Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries to build two scrubber-fitted 158,000-dwt crude carriers to be delivered during the first half of 2025.
According to the sources, Evalend is paying around $84m per ship.
Citing contract confidentiality, officials at Hyundai Samho declined to confirm the order. Evalend did not respond to a request for comment.
An order for the suezmaxes would bring Evalend’s total newbuilding outlay with shipyards in the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Engineering (KSOE) group to over $1.4bn over the past two years.
The newbuildings previously ordered by Evalend at KSOE comprise the following vessels: four midsize gas carriers (MGCs) of 40,000 cbm at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard at $45.5m each; five 91,000-cbm VLGCs at Hyundai Samho at $80m apiece and seven 88,000-cbm VLGCs at an average price of $96m per ship at Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Hyundai Samho already has delivered three VLGCs, while HMD has delivered one MGC. According to gas players, Angola’s Sonangol chartered one of the freshly delivered 91,000-cbm VLGCs while Gunvor has fixed a second.
Meanwhile, shipbuilding sources are identifying Lendoudis as ordering two more 50,000-dwt product tanker newbuildings at China’s Jiangsu New Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, lifting the total number of MR tankers he has booked there to six.
The price tag of the MR tankers is said to be about $40m per ship and Yangzijiang is slated to deliver the sextet between 2025 and early 2026.
Many eggs in many baskets
Evalend, which celebrated its 50th birthday last year, has been expanding in other sectors as well.
The company has emerged recently as the new owner of two post-panamaxes and one handysize bulker that changed hands on the secondhand market late last year.
The first is the 93,400-dwt Pellonia (renamed Roza, built 2010) — a vessel reported sold by Asiatic Lloyd to undisclosed buyers for about $17.2m.
At about the same time, another post-panamax bulker joined the company’s fleet: the 93,200-dwt Jin Mei (renamed Judith, built 2010), which was sold in November by Jinhui Shipping to undisclosed Greeks for $17.25m.
Evalend also bought from Japan’s Fukuyo Kisen the 33,400-dwt Lodestar Pacific (renamed Mangusta, built 2015) for about $19m.
Lendoudis has been on the selling side as well.
As TradeWinds already reported, the company flipped since last October two of its Hyundai Mipo-built MGC newbuildings: the 40,000-cbm Green Energy (ex-Mangusta, built 2022) and the soon-to-be-delivered Mustang (built 2023).
The buyer is Purus Marine, which spent $59.5m and $61.5m, respectively, on the two ships. This means that Evalend pocketed a profit of about $30m on the duo.
Apart from building tankers for Evalend, Yangzijiang is also constructing four handysize bulk carriers for the Greek shipping company.
Evalend is believed to be paying between $29m and $30m for each of the 40,000-dwt Green Dolphin-type bulkers. Their delivery is scheduled between late 2024 and the first half of 2025.
