John Bassadone and his fast-growing Hercules Tanker Management (HTM) have ordered up to 10 more “ultra-spec” chemical tanker newbuildings in China.
Bassadone revealed the order for six firm and four optional units at China’s Jiangmen Hangtong Shipbuilding in an interview with TradeWinds on Tuesday as he attended Bahri Week in Dubai.
“We very much expect to exercise the options, considering our strategy of renewing the fleet as well as Peninsula’s expanding operations and also our other requirements,” he said.
The order for four initial units at the yard was placed in early 2023 but not revealed until 3 October in a TradeWinds article.
Bassadone said then that he had delayed publicising the order as he was carrying out a transition that would add HTM as the vessel-owning partner to his marine fuels company, Peninsula.
Bassadone revealed the formation of HTM in a September article in TradeWinds.
The Gibraltar-based entrepreneur said specifications for the expanded order of the 7,700-dwt IMO type 2 chemical tankers are essentially the same as the initial units, with pricing slightly higher.
HTM has not commented on the price of the initial units, but VesselsValue has placed the cost at about $18m each.
That would put the all-in price tag on the order expansion close to $200m.
Bassadone said: “These are ordered by Hercules predominantly for Peninsula’s use, but that doesn’t exclude the possibility of Hercules also looking at interesting business opportunities, chartering them out or even the sale of a couple of units. That’s always a possibility.”
Vessel specs include diesel-electric and battery-ready power units tipped to reduce emissions by about 20% compared with conventional product tankers.
A twin-engine design aims to improve manoeuvrability during ship-to-ship or loading operations.
HTM maintains the near-term launch of methanol-ready tonnage is well timed to service rapid growth in the global methanol-powered fleet, which it believes will increase by 250% over the next four years.
Recognising the trend is made more important by the relative scarcity of shipyard slots, it added.
The initial four ships are to deliver from the first half of next year. Bassadone expects the first delivery from the expanded order to come in June 2026, with each additional ship delivering at roughly three-month increments.
“We went out to market, checked different options and specs, and ended up realising it’s better sticking to what we’re already doing,” he said of the order expansion at Jiangmen Hangtong.
HTM, which Bassadone has told TradeWinds was “soft launched” in late 2023, comes to the market with 44 owned or chartered-in vessels, including the entire complement of tankers formerly in the fleet of Peninsula.
The number does not include the orders newly revealed.
