Eastern Pacific Shipping is growing its MR tanker presence with fresh newbuildings as it sets its sights on a “50-vessel product fleet”.
The Idan Ofer-led, Singapore-based company has ordered up to eight MR tankers worth about $372m at a Chinese shipyard.
Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding will build four 50,000-dwt product carriers in a deal that includes two sets of options, each for two additional vessels.
The firm quartet brings the total number of MR newbuildings that the shipowner has on order to 12.
Its earlier eight tankers were ordered at the end of 2022 — six at New Times Shipbuilding and two at HD Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding.
Shipbuilding sources following Eastern Pacific’s newbuilding activities confirmed its activity at Fujian Mawei.
One shipping player said the contract was signed in February but the deal went unreported.
“Eastern Pacific is likely to exercise the option ships as they are very well priced,” said the source.
The company is believed to be paying around $46.5m for each conventionally fuelled ship and is due to take delivery in the second half of 2026 and 2027.
If Eastern Pacific exercises the options, its MR fleet will balloon to 32 vessels by 2027 when they are delivered, as it already has 16 MR tankers on the water.
“Thirty-two MR tankers will be a good size for the company,” said the shipping source.
Other sources said Eastern Pacific has also ordered several aframax product carriers.
It has four LR2s on the water and seven ships on order in China.
“The product tanker business is a big segment for Eastern Pacific,” said the shipping source. “It intends to build a big presence there and expand the fleet to around 50 vessels between the MRs and LR2 tankers.”
Eastern Pacific chief executive Cyril Ducau declined to comment when contacted.
The owner has been active in the shipbuilding market for the past few years, ordering dual-fuel container ships, bulk carriers, tankers, pure car/truck carriers, VLGCs, very large ethane carriers and LNG carriers.
It has one of the world’s largest newbuilding programmes, with about 80 vessels worth more than $6bn on order.
Eastern Pacific is also active in the sale-and-purchase market. It has offloaded four vessels this year — one newcastlemax bulker, a capesize, one suezmax tanker and an aframax — under its fleet renewal programme.
The vessels sold were the 203,200-dwt Mount Kinabalu (renamed Sunny Faranah) and 177,000-dwt Mount Carmel (both built 2007), 164,000-dwt Nobleway (renamed New Liberty, built 2010) and 105,900-dwt Koro Sea (renamed Pacific 01, built 2008).
Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network lists Eastern Pacific with 183 vessels, totalling almost 18m dwt, on the water.
