Navios Maritime Partners has added LR2 tanker newbuildings to its growing fleet.
The US-listed shipowner has returned to Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard for two 115,000-dwt aframax product carriers.
The deal lifts the number of LR2 tankers that Navios has on order at the Chinese shipyard to six. The earlier four newbuildings were ordered last year.
Zhoushan Changhong disclosed the order, saying the contract was signed last week.
It did not reveal the price but said the vessels would be fitted with scrubbers and are methanol/LNG-ready.
Shore power capability will be installed on the ships, enabling them to connect to port grids to reduce emissions.
The design of the tankers was developed by Zhoushan Changhong together with CIMC Shanghai Research Institute.
The latest pair is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2027.
The four earlier tankers, delivering in 2025 and 2026, were reported to cost $64.55m each, including scrubbers and fuel-efficiency features.
Besides the Zhoushan Changhong vessels, Navios has six LR2 newbuildings at South Korea’s K Shipbuilding.
It ordered them in 2022 for delivery up until 2025. Brokers said Navios paid less than $60m each for the sextet.
Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network shows Navios has fixed out four of the K Shipbuilding LR2 tankers to Chevron.
It is believed to have fixed out the first two for an average period of 60 months at a net rate of $25,576 per day.
Early this year, Zhoushan Changhong delivered one panamax container ship, the 5,300-teu Zim Eagle (built 2024), to Navios.
It was part of a series of 10 boxships that Navios ordered in 2021 and 2022 at an average price of around $62m each. It has chartered them out to Israeli container line Zim.
