Following a spurt of newbuilding activity earlier this year with orders for LPG carriers in South Korea, Evalend Shipping is believed to have turned to a Chinese yard to build tankers and bulkers.
Shipbuilding sources and brokers are linking the Athens-based company to at least one pair of MR2 product carriers and two handysizes at Jiangsu New Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.
The 40,000-dwt bulkers are said to be of the Green Dolphin-type, a modern open-hatch design that is suitable for eventual modifications to carry containers.
Evalend is believed to be paying between $29m and $30m for each of these bulkers, with delivery scheduled in the first half of 2025.
Managers at the Kriton Lendoudis-led company did not respond to a request for comment.
If confirmed, the order for two firm and two optional 50,000-dwt MR2 tankers would represent a new step in Evalend’s already versatile newbuilding history.
The company is not known to have ordered such ships before and it had only one such unit in its secondhand fleet. That was the 47,100-dwt Torm Neches (renamed Majnoon, built 2000), which Evalend purchased in 2018.
Lendoudis seems to have sold on the vessel last year. It is currently trading as Elza.
Avid for newbuildings
Details of the MR2s Evalend is said to have ordered at Jiangsu New Yangzijiang have yet to be revealed. According to the sources, they cost about $40m per ship and are due for delivery in 2025.
Jiangsu New Yangzijiang is a familiar yard for Evalend, which has ordered a number of kamsarmaxes there in recent years. Its fleet includes 12 kamsarmax or post-panamax vessels built at Jiangsu New Yangzijiang or affiliated Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui.
When it came to ordering tankers or LPG carriers, however, Lendoudis had so far preferred to turn to South Korean yards — Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries or Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
Lendoudis is an avid newbuilding player. He started booking new ships in 2003 with a 20,000-dwt handysize at Imabari Shipbuilding.
About 30 newbuildings have followed since, in an ever-widening variety of ship types.
In 2007, Evalend entered tankers with an order for eight chemical carriers.
LPG and VLCC newbuildings followed in 2016 and 2018, respectively, leading the company to its current size of about 40 ships. Earlier this year, Evalend booked five 88,000-cbm LPG carriers at Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, as TradeWinds reported.
Evalend, a company founded by Lendoudis’ father, Evangelos, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.
